16th August 2007 Archive

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Best Buy bags Liz Claiborne for designer kit cases

US retailer Best Buy is attempting to tone down its blokey image and embrace its feminine side with a line of femme-friendly iPod, phone, camera and laptop cases styled by fashion house Liz Claiborne. Liz Claiborne's Best Buy accessories: iPod holders... Available throughout the Best Buy chain and through the retailer's …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 00:03
Helio, Samsung sculpt 11mm thick handset

Keep it in your wallet

Look down in shame, all you fatty clamshells, sliders and candybars because US virtual network operator Helio has launched the Fin, an ultra-slim handset that's a minuscule 1.1cm thick and packs plenty of features into its Size-0 magnesium body. Helio's Fin: thin enough? The 3G handset sports a 2.3in, 240 x 320, 262,144- …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 00:14
Sun and IBM promise operating system surprise

My Little Code Pony

Sun Microsystems and IBM look set to hold a whopper of a press conference tomorrow with CEO Jonathan Schwartz and IBM's systems chief Bill Zeitler all geared up to talk. What exactly will be the topic of discussion? Who knows? A co-branded invitation tells us that this is an operating system agreement thing. So perhaps Sun …

Servers 16 Aug 2007, 01:34
Apple 'retires' AppleWorks

Ye Olde Appe dropped for brand spanking new iWork 08

Apple has finally put its venerable AppleWorks integrated productivity software application - a package it hasn't updated for more than three years - out to pasture. According to a MacWorld UK report, Apple's dealers were notified of the move last week, and with the arrival of a new version of the iWork suite with a …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 02:03
Boffins chill chip with ion wind

Fan efficiency increased

Scientists at Indiana's Purdue University have worked out to significantly increase the efficiency of kit designed to keep toasty microprocessors cool by zapping the air above the chip with a thousand Volts. Coolers work by pulling air across a chip's upper surface to draws heat away from it. Unfortunately, interactions …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 04:00
Laptop part shortage to push up prices?

LCDs, DVD drives, batter cells in short supply

Notebooks could become more expensive to buy through the rest of the year if claims that key components are in short supply prove true. Among the laptop parts said to be hard to find: display panels, battery cells, DVD drives and motherboards. The warning was sounded by moles from within Taiwan's contract manufacturer …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 06:15
Web system sounds health alerts

Health authorities get warning SMS

A new medical intelligence system has been developed to update European health authorities on public health threats. The European Commission said it has created the web based system to provide health authorities with real time information about disease outbreaks, industrial accidents, and major incidents such as a bioterrorist …

Public Sector 16 Aug 2007, 08:52
iTuneski boss escapes the gulag

'Sloppy' prosecutors fail in AllofMP3 case

The former owner of buccaneering music download site AllofMP3.com was cleared of copyright violation charges by a court in Moscow yesterday. Denis Kvasov was boss of Media Services, the company behind AllofMP3.com and other Russian music sites, between 2003 and 2005. A guilty verdict could have meant three years jail and €420, …

Music and Media 16 Aug 2007, 09:07
Skype comes to the iPhone

Instant messaging wish granted

iPhone fans are set have their wish granted, with the news that a German firm has developed an application that brings Skype functionality to the device. One of the complaints that users of the hybrid phone and MP3 player had was relating to its instant messaging functionality, or lack thereof. German firm Shape Media has …

Networks 16 Aug 2007, 09:08
Email has workers tearing their hair out

Must... check... inbox...

Technology is an increasing source of stress to employees, according to recently published research, which said one third of workers were caused stress by email. Researchers at Glasgow University and Paisley University found the pressure to respond immediately to emails was a cause of stress for 34 per cent of employees. Women …

Business 16 Aug 2007, 09:27
NASA delays decision over Shuttle repair

Weighing up risks

NASA has put off making a decision about repairing a hole in the insulation under the space shuttle's wing until tomorrow, according to reports. If the repair is needed, the fix will take place on the next spacewalk, slated for Saturday. The Houston Chronicle reports that the team aboard Endeavour asked mission control whether …

Space 16 Aug 2007, 09:56
What tricks is the BBC up to with Microsoft?

End game Conspiracy, iPlayer, and DRM

The BBC iPlayer has been a hot topic on everyone's lips. It's late, doesn't work very well yet, presents some ISPs with big economic problems, and is limited to Windows XP users running Internet Explorer. That last point has proven particularly sticky for the Beeb's spinners in the last few weeks, but in reality reveals as much …

Music and Media 16 Aug 2007, 10:08
Omego launches kiddie-friendly handset

Parents can breathe easy

Omego's kids handset has hit UK streets, allowing parents to control the numbers their children can dial. That safe Omego handset The free handset comes with a website where parents can set 40 "safe" numbers, and costs £15 a month on an 18 month contract. The Omego isn't the first kiddy-friendly offering. iKids offers …

Mobile 16 Aug 2007, 10:14
Google gags Facebook code leaker

What took you so long?

Google's legal Luftwaffe has swooped on Facebook's behalf to shoot down an anonymous blog which posted two sections of source code leaked by the social network utility. Facebook Secrets was at the centre of the embarrassing code exposure over the weekend after it republished code served up by the site to student Trae McNeely …

ID 16 Aug 2007, 10:15
Jason Bourne disses James Bond

'Imperialist misogynist', says Matt Damon

Matt Damon yesterday used the London premiere of The Bourne Ultimatum to roundly dismiss James Bond as a Martini-sipping imperialist misogynist, the BBC reports. Damon declared Bond "anachronistic when you put it in the world we live in today" and added insult to injury with: "Bond is an imperialist and a misogynist who kills …

Entertainment 16 Aug 2007, 10:17
Ubuntu unplugs compromised servers

Five out of eight systems riddled with bugs

Ubuntu had to shut down five of its eight production servers last week after realising the poorly maintained systems were compromised to such an extent they had become a source of attacks against other systems. The servers were sponsored by Canonical but hosted by the community. The systems were running an old unsupported …

Servers 16 Aug 2007, 11:07
'Grim reaper' dog senses nursing home deaths

Woof woof, you're dead

It appears it's not just cats who have the gift of sensing when old timers are about to pop their clogs. Hot on the paws of Oscar, the Rhode Island feline who spookily holds death-bed vigils for residents at Providence's Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre, comes news of Scamp - the Ohio grim reaper canine who …

Biology 16 Aug 2007, 11:11
NASA issues Constellation/Ares enviro-impact estimate

Limited ideas mean limited pollution

Ares 1 - the Shuttle replacement NASA's plans for the system which will replace the Space Shuttle have continued to move forward. Last week, the space agency inked a deal for solid-fuelled test rockets. Now it has issued an assessment of the environmental impact which will result from the entire "Constellation" programme. …

Space 16 Aug 2007, 11:16
LCD will dominate display market by 2011

What's a plasma?

If you’re thinking of buying a plasma display, or already own one, then it seems you could be in a minority by 2011. Analyst In-Stat has predicted that within four years LCD displays will account for almost 75 per cent of the market, while plasma will only take home around 15 per cent. The analyst also forecast that worldwide …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 11:19
Streaking star leaves sweeping tail in its wake

Updated Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

A space-based observatory has captured images of a 13 light-year long tail stretching out behind a well known red-giant star, Mira. The pictures have come as a complete shock to astronomers: Mira has been gazed upon from Earth for almost half a millennium, but nothing like this tail has ever been seen before. A new …

Space 16 Aug 2007, 11:19
Virtualisation all the rage but Peterborough's so real it's dangerous

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There's no doubt about it, we're living in a virtualised world. Anyone disinclined to believe it only needed to look at VMWare's IPO, covered in entertaining detail by El Reg's Ashlee Vance. On the day, VMWare was planning to place 33 million shares at $29 each, netting $957m in the process and giving it a capitalisation of …

Channel Register 16 Aug 2007, 11:23
China jails 'subversive' net dissident

Four years' jail for anti-government articles

China today jailed a "dissident" net author for four years on charges of "inciting to subvert state power", Reuters reports. The Intermediate People's Court in Hangzhou, capital of the eastern province of Zhejiang, convicted Chen Shuqing of posting anti-government articles online. His lawyer Li Jianqiang said: "It's totally …

Law 16 Aug 2007, 12:38
In the beginning, there was the flowchart...

Stob Software diagramming - a warning from history

Those who can, do. Those who can't, make those who can draw a picture My first effort in instructing computers, about 30 years ago, was drawing a flowchart. Here it is as I remember it, albeit without the smears and crossings-out with which my 14-year-old self doubtless decorated the original. We were unconstrained, in those …

Verity Stob 16 Aug 2007, 12:45
ISP panicked by MS Patch Tuesday

186K: 'It's a virus!'

ISP group 186K has blamed potential congestion on its network this week on bandwidth being swallowed by Microsoft's monthly security patch update. Redmond unleashed six critical fixes on Tuesday. 186K's engineers first suspected a new virus, according to the firm's status page, but later on Wednesday morning said it was …

Telecoms 16 Aug 2007, 12:50
US airforce in $500m push for better jet turbines

Minority Report hovership consolation prize for ramjet fanciers

The US air force's push to produce revolutionary new jet engines is now fully underway, with the announcement of substantial demonstrator contracts. Back in March, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) announced that it would mount a five-year programme called ADaptive Versatile ENgine Technology, or ADVENT*, to overcome the …

Science 16 Aug 2007, 13:00
Skype hangs up on users

Updated: Worldwide connection problems

Skype's peer-to-peer technology appears to be to blame for a large-scale network outage, with users around the world experiencing connection problems. The scale of the SNAFU isn't known, but users are reporting problems connecting to the Skype network, or being disconnected within moments of connecting. A statement on the firm …

VoIP 16 Aug 2007, 13:06
UK private eyes invite public into forum

Gumshoes are us

UK private eyes are setting up an online forum designed to dispel myths about the profession. The esoterically monikered "e-LEGAL | Gathering" forum is open to lawyers and the general public, as well as gumshoes. The site is the brainchild of Croydon based private-eye Jorge Salgado-Reyes of Salgado Investigations in …

Security 16 Aug 2007, 13:14
A-Level figures hint at physics recovery

Is science on the mend?

It is summer, and the newspapers are full of the inevitable pictures of happy blonde teenage girls celebrating their A-level results. This year, more than one in four of the results was an A grade. This will undoubtedly trigger renewed debate about falling standards, and prompt questions about how universities should go about …

Physics 16 Aug 2007, 13:19
Tube still lacks emergency comms

But Airwave's due August 2008

Two years after the 7 July bombings police radios still fail to work in the underground, a London Assembly committee said. A report (pdf) from the London Assembly has found that two years on from the 7 July terrorist attacks, the capital's emergency services are still without a digital radio system that works on the underground …

Networks 16 Aug 2007, 13:55
Sky offers goals on the go

Kick and score and watch and walk

Broadcaster Sky has revamped its Mobile TV service and is offering users live streams of its primary sports channels. The addition of Sky Sports channels one, two and three means fans of the Gooners, Red Devils or even the Blues will now be able to watch live football on their handsets. The update falls under the Sky’s Sports …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 14:18
Dominos trns 2 txt

Pizza in 160 characters, or your money back

Dominos UK has launched a text-ordering service, for those who find phoning for pizza too much trouble. The company already takes orders by phone and over the internet - as well as in-store, of course. You do need to pre-register for the service, and create names for your regular orders, which you can then text with minimal …

Mobile 16 Aug 2007, 14:20
Foxy Brown cuffed on Blackberry assault rap

Alleged device-chucking rapstress detained

Rapstress Foxy Brown has confirmed the BlackBerry as bitchslap assault weapon of choice by earning herself a cuffing for allegedly (hand)setting about a woman with the popular mobile device, AP reports. The battling 27-year-old chanteuse was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting 25-year-old Brooklyn neighbour Arlene …

Entertainment 16 Aug 2007, 14:44
An inconvenient update

Comment Cool heads notice flaw in US warming data

Last week, statistician and amateur meteorologist Steve McIntyre notified NASA of an error in its climate data. The results of the hasty correction mean that as far as the US is concerned, 1998 is no longer the hottest year on record. 1934 is. Headline-grabbing statements that nine out of ten of the hottest years on record were …

Physics 16 Aug 2007, 15:02
Benioff tags Ellison for SAP smackdown

Less growth

SAP has a new tormentor: Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff, who's taken over from Oracle's Larry Ellison as chief abuser while announcing financial results. Chief executive Mark Benioff hitched SAP to the crossbeam and began punching while announcing a quarter that saw record customer numbers and revenue. Benioff accused SAP …

Applications 16 Aug 2007, 15:12
Second security breach hits Pfizer

Another cock-up at Viagra manufacturer

Personal details of workers at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have been exposed to potential theft for the second time in two months. The latest security cock-up involving the Viagra maker concerns the theft of two laptops containing details of 950 Pfizer contract workers from the car of an employee of consulting firm Axia. The …

ID 16 Aug 2007, 16:06
Who'll win the webcasting war?

Column A report from the battlefield

On March 20, 2007, The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), a three judge panel appointed by the Librarian of Congress whose mission it is to determine rates and terms for copyright statutory licenses, shocked the webcasting community by announcing dramatically higher rates for use of recorded music by large commercial and small …

Music and Media 16 Aug 2007, 16:26
Sony VAIO VGC-RM1N HD workstation

Review Make and edit your own HD movies

HD video may be the standard of choice, but the downside of those beautifully composed and shot HD home movies is how to edit them off the HD camcorder so they can be stored somewhere more convenient than the camcorder itself. The RM1N packs a powerful processing punch Unless you have an ultra fast PC, you are going to be …

Reg Hardware 16 Aug 2007, 17:46
'Law and Order' cop accused of child porn possession

After taking PC to Geek Squad

The actor who played a hard-nosed cop who cracked down on sexual deviants on prime-time TV has pleaded not guilty after authorities said they found 180 images of child porn on his PC. The offensive photos were allegedly found after the actor, Albert Insinnia, took his PC to a Best Buy in New Jersey for repair, NorthJersey.com …

Law 16 Aug 2007, 17:47
Chinese firm claims World of Warcraft stole its fonts

Font of all typographic wisdom

A Chinese company is suing the developer behind one of the world's biggest games over a claim that the World of Warcraft (WoW) game used its fonts without permission. The suit could be worth $13.2m. Fonts are pieces of software that need to be licensed, and font piracy is one of the lesser known forms of intellectual property …

Law 16 Aug 2007, 17:56
Chinese couple give birth to @ symbol

Government fumes

The world is atwitter over a report that a Chinese couple hopes to name their baby after an email address - but the tale sounds awfully familiar to The Reg. Citing recent comments from China's State Language Commission, The Associated Press is reporting that the unidentified couple wants to call their baby "@" - the symbol …

Bootnotes 16 Aug 2007, 18:20
TJX takes $118m hit over massive security breach

$2.60 each for exposed credit card

TJX, the American retail giant, has set aside $118m to cover costs and potential liability arising from a security breach to its database systems. Crooks gained access to 45.6m credit and debit card records during the breach, which lasted 17 months between July 2005 and January 2007. TJX's $118m after-tax cash charge for Q2 …

Enterprise Security 16 Aug 2007, 18:55
Yahoo! Messenger! users! face! attack! by! video!

No anonymous naked webcam chats for you!

Yahoo Messenger users beware: Your mother was right when she told you not to chat with strangers. A newly discovered zero-day vulnerability in the widely-used chat program proves this was sound advice. According to a blog entry by McAfee, company researchers have been able to confirm a report on a Chinese language security …

Security 16 Aug 2007, 19:27
IBM embraces - wtf - Sun's Solaris across x86 server line

Unix hatred turns to love

Sun Microsystems has nailed its biggest Solaris x86 win to date by lining up IBM as a firm backer of the operating system. The two companies today revealed that IBM will offer Solaris x86 as an option on a number of its Xeon- and Opteron-based servers by year end. This arrangement provides Sun with its first real Tier 1 OEM …

Servers 16 Aug 2007, 19:45
Is VMware too close to Linux?

Superstar's legal status questioned

Maybe you've heard of VMware. You know, EMC's baby, huge IPO, Bloomberg called it the hottest tech stock since Google in 2004, drove a member of our staff mad? Virtualization has clearly become an industry darling, and VMware controls 55 per cent of that market. This kind of monster success tends to paint a big ol' target on a …

Servers 16 Aug 2007, 20:31
Novell won't pull a SCO

But would like to chat about Sun and MS

Yes, a judge has confirmed that Novell owns the copyrights to the Unix operating system, but that doesn't mean the company plans to start suing people for using Linux. It will leave such behavior to companies that don't own the copyrights. Like SCO. "We have absolutely no intention of using our Unix copyright ownership to …

Operating Systems 16 Aug 2007, 20:53
Dell accountants spank themselves

$50m to $150m up in smoke

Dell has released the results of its internal accounting probe today, stemming from allegations they mis-dated earnings or backdated share options to reach their financial goals. The probe has obviously been a huge thorn in the computer maker's paw, delaying the filing of current financial results and prompting an expensive …

Financial News 16 Aug 2007, 22:06
PCs, ink, servers - just about everything boosts HP's Q3

Enjoys top revenue rise since 2000

HP did its double-digit thing during the third quarter with software and PC gains boosting the bottom line. The company's workmanlike - yeah, we used it - quarter resulted in a 16 per cent year-over-year rise in revenue to $25.4bn. Net income surged as well, rising 29 per cent to $1.8bn. That's a healthy chunk of change. "We …

Financial News 16 Aug 2007, 22:46
IBM and PwC settle kickback charges

Pay $5.3m to keep government happy. Wait a minute, isn't that...?

IBM and accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers have agreed to pay a total of about $5.3m to settle allegations that they gave illegal kickbacks to reel in contracts with US government agencies. IBM has agreed to fork over $2,972,038.50 to make amends, and PwC will pay $2,315,662. The US Department of Justice said both IBM and …

Financial News 16 Aug 2007, 22:53