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24th August 2007 Archive

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  • Net radio grabs olive branch from royalty police

    But wants another

    Web radio may survive after all. Today, America's online radio royalty police - aka SoundExchange - agreed to cap per channel fees at $50,000 for each individual broadcaster, a big win for sites like Yahoo! and Live365 that serve up thousands of channels to listeners across the web. SoundExchange continues to haggle over …

    Media 24 Aug 2007, 00:54

  • How to case high-profile targets without really trying

    Tool makes it a snap to match domains to MySpace accounts

    We've been hearing for years that MySpace and other social networking sites can represent a gaping chink in an otherwise hardened corporate network. Now a London-based security consultant has created a tool that proves it. Enter the PKI Book, created by Petko D. Petkov. Just type in the domain name of an organization you, er …

    Security 24 Aug 2007, 00:59

  • 3 Ireland's broadband (nearly) back on its feet

    Update: FTP, VPNs and Outlook should now be working

    Just as 3 launches its £10 tariff in the UK, its service in Ireland has been suffering incompatibilities, slow speeds, and complaints, forcing the company to waive a month's subs as it struggles to get the service usable. The service advertises speeds of up to 3.6Mb/sec, but users have been complaining that speeds between 100 …

    Mobile 24 Aug 2007, 07:02

  • Data center efficiency - the good, the bad and the way too hot

    Meat Cast Avoiding crisis in the rain-forest

    Ah, data center efficiency. The big vendors have embraced this topic like an admin embraces a bag of Doritos. Luckily, we're here to separate fact from fiction. Episode 5 of Semi-Coherent Computing has Chris Hipp and me interview Rumsey Engineers founder Peter Rumsey. The folks at Rumsey Engineers know their stuff, having built …

    Semi-Coherent 24 Aug 2007, 08:24

  • Razer, MS each pitch the peak in gaming mice

    Scroll through the enemies

    Gaming peripherals specialist Razer launched its latest mouse this week, pledging a rage-topping level of sensitivity and a firefight fast response time. Separately, Microsoft unveiled a Vista-friendly gaming mouse of its own. Razer's Lachesis The corded Razer Lachesis mouse provides a 4000 dots per inch (dpi) sensitivity …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 08:37

  • iPhone unlock procedure posted

    Video shows it working?

    A utility claimed to be the world's first software tool for unlocking the Apple iPhone was launched yesterday, even as hardware hackers said they'd figured out how to get the same result by tweaking the gadget itself. Website iPhone Sim Free said its application would go on sale next week. Had we not handed our iPhone back we …

    Phones 24 Aug 2007, 08:58

  • Capita to provide Southampton 'Gateway'

    Despite concerns over procurement process

    Southampton has outsourced its IT services to Capita, despite criticism of the procurement process and concerns about local jobs. Southampton City Council has signed a 10 year IT outsourcing contract with Capita to upgrade the authority's IT systems and improve its "Gateway" contact centre. Capita is expected to deliver …

    The Channel 24 Aug 2007, 09:02

  • US customs bust coke-smuggling 'submarine'

    Stealth vessel packed with $352m of Colombian naughty salt

    US Customs are feeling pretty pleased with themselves after busting a stealthy "semi-submerged smuggling vessel" packed with $352m of Bolivian marching powder. The unlikely craft was spotted on Sunday off the coast of Guatemala in the Eastern Pacif by a Florida-based US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) P-3 Orion aircraft, …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 09:12

  • 'Microsoft' to compensate 419 victims

    Been scammed? Claim your £100,000 here

    We're obliged to the reader who alerted us to the agreeable news that Microsoft will compensate deserving 419 victims to the tune of £100,000 a head. The email bringing these glad tidings is worth reproducing in full, and your attention is drawn in particular to the links kindly provided by the Lads from Lagos to back their …

    Security 24 Aug 2007, 09:15

  • Google changes Street View privacy policy

    Blurs faces and number plates on request

    Google has changed its privacy policy on its Street View feature to obscure faces and car number plates on request. Technology news site CNET News.com reports that the company policy change took place weeks ago but has only just come to light. Street View is a Google product which consists of photographs of streets in the US. …

    Security 24 Aug 2007, 09:38

  • Japan to get ultra-dinky Bluetooth USB dongle

    Another runner has jointed race to be first to release the world's smallest USB Bluetooth pick-up. Japan's Princeton today launched its PTM-UBT3S, pledging to bring it to market in September. Princeton's PTM-UBT3S The diminutive 'daptor - it's 1.9 x 1.4 x 0.5cm and weighs a feathery 5.5g - provides Bluetooth 2.0+EDR …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 09:42

  • Businessman loses battle for gripe site domain name

    Fails to sway WIPO

    The figure behind controversial business schemes has failed in his bid to gain control of the .com internet address consisting of his name. A site that criticises his activities has been allowed to keep the name. In arguments before the World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO) domain name arbitration panel, Australian …

    Law 24 Aug 2007, 09:43

  • Governance in the Web 2.0 world

    Everything over http

    There are some forces that just cannot be stopped. Block the path, and they'll just go round some other way. Fortunately, here in Devon, where Dartmoor has had no difficulty absorbing the recent rain, that's not a topical observation about the state of my living room. But it is certainly topical on the net. The classic seven- …

    Developer 24 Aug 2007, 09:54

  • Website addresses health inequalities in England

    Lists details of unhealthiest areas

    The Department of Health (DoH) has launched an interactive website to support efforts to raise life expectancy in deprived areas. The Health Inequalities Intervention Tool has been set up to help primary care trusts (PCTs), practice based commissioners and local authorities in Spearhead areas (the fifth of areas in England with …

    Policy 24 Aug 2007, 10:14

  • Teen sticks Xbox 360 power supply in bowl of water

    Result? Hospital for Darwin Award near-miss

    A North Carolina teenager who decided the best way to cool his Xbox's overheating power supply was to stick it in a bowl of water was knocked unconcious by the resulting electric shock and earned himself a trip to hospital with "minor burns to his right hand and foot". According to local news reports, the 14-year-old Brevard …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 10:15

  • National Guardsman suspended over personal website

    No holds barred on howtokillpeople.com

    The personal assistant to California National Guard's commanding officer was "placed on leave" on Wednesday pending a probe into the content of his personal website howtokillpeople.com. According to the Contra Costa Times, Senior Airman Travis Gruber of Sacramento - who's been Major Gen. William Wade's aide for a year - didn't …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 10:22

  • IBM and Microsoft launch battling unified comms packs

    One ring to rule 'em all

    IBM and Microsoft are both launching unified communications bundles - software which will allow management of email, VoIP calls, instant messaging, and video conferencing. IBM's is called UC2 - for unified communication and collaboration - it is an extension of Lotus Sametime software to include telephony products. It is …

    Networks 24 Aug 2007, 10:24

  • Rentokil to set Q Branch on UK's rats

    'James Bond-style technology' to battle rodent hordes

    Rentokil has announced it will deploy "James Bond-style technology" to battle the UK's burgeoning rat population - estimated by experts to have risen by 39 per cent in the past seven years and now totalling up to 100 million individuals. Exact details of the rat-busting tech are not noted, except a vague reference to "infrared …

    Science 24 Aug 2007, 10:32

  • Nicole Richie does 82 minutes hard time

    'Treated like any other inmate' during prison hell ordeal

    US reality TV "star" Nicole Richie is apparently none the worse for the wear after serving a hellish 82 minutes of a four-day drink-drive sentence, the BBC reports. Richie, 25, was hauled off to the Lynwood celebrity hang-out jail - recently favoured with a quick visit from Paris Hilton - and duly fingerprinted. She didn't, …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 10:59

  • Data governance and the holy grail

    Data workers of the world unite

    Yes, I know this sounds a bit like the eighth Harry Potter book. In fact, what I want to discuss are some implications of data governance that I don't think everyone has thought through yet. Let me start by assuming that you have gone the whole hog over data governance. That is, you have set up a data governance council, you …

    Developer 24 Aug 2007, 11:00

  • Movie pirate forced to ditch Linux

    House-arrest Ubuntu fan left staring at Windows

    A BitTorrent admin convicted of uploading movie files is being forced to ditch Linux if he wants to use his PC. Scott McCausland (AKA sk0t), the ex-admin of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker, was sentenced to five months imprisonment after he confessed to uploading copies of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith just …

    Security 24 Aug 2007, 11:26

  • Sony scientists develop sugar-fuelled power pack

    No low-cal versions in the pipeline though...

    Sony's battery boffins seem to have learnt some lessons from the previous few month's, ahem, problems. They've developed a battery that generates power from sugar and, they claim, can create enough power to run an MP3 player. The so-called "bio battery" generates electricity by mixing enzymes with a sugar solution. They break …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 11:27

  • IBM faces Second Life strike

    Flying furry penis pickets

    Ever wanted to go on strike, be part of that feeling of solidarity on the picket line, but felt too cowardly to take the risk? September should see just the opportunity for you. That is when Rappresentanza Sindacale Unitaria IBM Vimercate (RSU), the official trade union representing IBM's 9,000 workers in Italy, is planning a …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 11:34

  • Wii wins console war, market watcher claims

    Nintendo next-gen sales surpass Microsoft's

    Nintendo's Wii is now the world's best-selling next-gen videogames console, having this week nosed past the Xbox 360. The Microsoft console has been available to buy for the best part of a year more than has the Wii. So claims little-known online gaming sales tracker VG Chartz, which this week said that by its reckoning, as …

    Games 24 Aug 2007, 11:45

  • Xbox 360 Elite games console

    Review Small tweaks, big difference?

    Apart from a sneaky bit of Xbox 360 gaming at lunchtimes in the Register Hardware offices, we've always been fairly hardcore PlayStation fans, having grown up with the Sony console series since its 1995 launch. Could Microsoft's new machine, the Xbox 360 Elite, persuade us to change allegience? Well, yes, it could... MS' Xbox …

    Games 24 Aug 2007, 12:11

  • Dell laptops not in the pink after all

    A customer poses the question: 'Dell, Dell, Dell, where art thou lovely electric pink laptop you bigged up a little while ago? What's that you say? There's too much dust in the paint and so all you can give me right now is a, er, tuxedo black one.' Indeed, Dell's much-touted range of new colourful laptops, which were launched …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 12:21

  • MS warns gamers: steer clear of Xbox racing wheel

    Many Xbox 360 gamers claim they're smokin' hot drivers at the likes of Forza Motorsport 2. But now they risk really proving it, thanks to a power-supply flaw with Microsoft's Wireless Racing Wheel that can cause it to overheat and smoke. MS' Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel No cases of fire, personal injury or property …

    Games 24 Aug 2007, 12:30

  • Firms get cozy, play nice - must be something in the air

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

    Google, google everywhere and not a drop to drink Google says it will probably bid for a share of the US's wireless spectrum, due to be carved up for auction in January next year. The firm also announced substantial investment in China, where it currently plays second fiddle to homegrown search engine Baidu. The company piled …

    Business 24 Aug 2007, 12:35

  • Spare some change - for the sub-£10 mobile

    Alcatel has slashed the price of its latest no-frills mobile phone - but only for three days. Over the UK Bank Holiday weekend, the already cheap as chips OT-E201 will sell for less than the price of a takeaway. Alcatel's OT-E210: yours for eight quid, but only this weekend The handset was originally launched earlier this …

    Phones 24 Aug 2007, 12:38

  • Dell laptops not in the pink after all

    Paint it black

    A customer poses the question: "Dell, Dell, Dell, where art thou lovely electric pink laptop you bigged up a little while ago? "What's that you say? There's too much dust in the paint and so all you can give me right now is a, er, tuxedo black one." Indeed, Dell's much-touted range of new colourful laptops, which were …

    The Channel 24 Aug 2007, 12:53

  • Bank holiday transport farrago

    Oyster cards and TomTom are no-go

    It might be the summer bank holiday across most of the UK, but at least two services to aid travellers are unavailable this Friday afternoon. Anyone trying to add credit to their Oyster card on the Transport for London website is out of luck. The page says: "Important site maintenance means Oyster Online is temporarily …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 13:17

  • Channel 4 cans Celebrity Big Brother

    There is a god, evidently

    Channel 4 has confirmed the UK's viewing public will not be subjected to another outing of human zoo Celebrity Big Brother - at least until 2009. The broadcaster has done the decent thing in the wake of the Shilpa Shetty racism kerfuffle and decided not to go ahead with next year's confinement of c-list social inadequates for …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 13:30

  • Queen's axe-man wins his PhD

    Viva put him under pressure

    Queen guitarist Brian May will henceforth be known as Dr May, as the axe-slinger has finally been awarded his PhD. May presented his thesis, entitled Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud, to the examining board at Imperial College, London, on 23 August. The academic scrutineers gave May a category two pass, which means …

    Science 24 Aug 2007, 14:35

  • Nokia battery recall to cost Matsushita up to $172m

    Nokia's decision to recall 46m mobile phone batteries is going to cost their manufacturer, Matsushita, up to $172m, the Japanese company admitted today. Matsushita - better known for its Panasonic brand - said it would shoulder the ¥10-20bn ($86-172m) cost of the battery replacement programme. It said the burden wouldn't …

    Phones 24 Aug 2007, 14:49

  • So, what's the velocity of a sheep in a vacuum?

    Plus, the size of Wales in cubic furlongs

    In a recent piece on red-giant star Mira, we rather foolishly suggested that the "comet-tailed" body was travelling across the heavens at roughly 150,000 times the speed of the average sheep. This rash assertion provoked many readers to demand the maximum velocity of a sheep and, more to the point, the maximum velocity of a …

    Science 24 Aug 2007, 15:06

  • London man coughs to 172mph Porsche jaunt

    Sets new UK record for illicit excess velocity

    A 33-year-old London man has pleaded guilty to driving a Porsche 911 at 172mph on the A420 in Oxfordshire, the BBC reports. Timothy Brady, of Harrow, was snared in a routine speed check near Kingston Bagpuize, and admitted his high-speed escapade at Oxford Crown Court. He denied a further charge of aggravated vehicle taking, …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2007, 15:09

  • Kingston Comms loses BT connection

    World cut off from Hull

    Kingston Communications, recently rebranded as KCom, has lost its connection to BT and, therefore, the wider world beyond the Humber. Several concerned Hull residents, and Reg readers, got in touch to say they could not access bt.com or other sites on the BT network because of a routing problem. KCom provided us with the …

    Broadband 24 Aug 2007, 15:13

  • Uranus strikes a pose for Hubble's camera

    Edge on view of the rings

    Hubble has snapped a gorgeous shot of the rings of Uranus*. I can see rings around Uranus. Credit: NASA/Hubble The picture is extremely rare because the rings happen to be tilted perfectly edge on to Earth, an alignment that happens just twice every 894 years as the planet orbits the sun. NASA points out that the last time …

    Science 24 Aug 2007, 15:28

  • Crypto boffins break car cypher

    Gone in 24 hours

    Cryptographic researchers have identified a practical attack against the KeeLoq car anti-theft cypher. KeeLoq serves as the cryptographic underpinning of several car anti-theft mechanisms distributed by Microchip Technology. The technology is used in a wide variety of car remote controls from manufacturers including Chrysler …

    Science 24 Aug 2007, 18:07

  • Yahoo!, Microsoft ink web pact with Chinese government

    'The end of anonymous blogging'

    Microsoft and Yahoo! have signed a pact with the Chinese government that "encourages" the big name web players to record the identities of bloggers and censor content. So says Reporters Without Borders, an organization that fights for journalistic rights across the globe. The French advocacy group reports that at least 20 …

    Media 24 Aug 2007, 19:43

  • Internet ramraiders rear-end domain parking service

    NameDrive weathers DDoS assault

    Domain name parking service NameDrive restored its services on Friday after coming under a concerted and ferocious denial of service attack from unidentified hackers. The motives for the attack remain unclear but NameDrive reckons crackers expanded vast resources to flood its website with spurious traffic. NameDrive offers a …

    Security 24 Aug 2007, 19:57

  • Boys' toys get burned, glued and impounded

    Comments And stilted love scenes make us yawn

    Bad things have been happening to the male anatomy this week, with torchings and glueings being sustained. Well-known extensions (cars and guns) get a fair mention too. We begin with a sticky situation. Captain Dan the Demon Dwarf (that noted performer) has attached himself by the danglies to a vacuum cleaner. The DIY gluing …

    Letters 24 Aug 2007, 20:15

  • Dell laptop explodes 'like fireworks'

    Oh no, not again

    Another Dell laptop has burst unexpectedly into flames. This one, an Inspiron 9200, spontaneously combusted this week in Columbus, Ohio. The blaze was caught on camera. According to a report on website ConsumerAffairs.com, the laptop went up "like fireworks", its owner, Douglas Brown, claimed. Brown called the emergency …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 20:28

  • iPhone sparks counter measures from Verizon, RealNetworks and MTV

    Handset-to-handset fighting

    Whenever a single monolithic company has launched against the globe spanning iTunes, Apple has been able to move the goalposts and push further and further towards a monopolistic market share of online music, but this week a genuine challenge has emerged, one that we are certain will dent the success of Apple, and we suspect …

    Media 24 Aug 2007, 20:28

  • BioShockers delivered from DRM hell

    Rapture on up to five PCs

    After howls of pain from gaming addicts everywhere, 2K Games has eased the draconian DRM restrictions on its much ballyhooed new title BioShock. In the wake of the game's launch earlier this week, countless users - including a senior associate editor with PC Gamer - complained that BioShock's SecuROM copy protection software …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 22:18

  • Coming to terms with Raon's Everun tiny, Lolita-based PC

    Review It's a goer, if you hate keyboards

    Ah, the ultra mobile PC (UMPC). This is the one device in the computing kingdom that I want to work well more than any other. The latest turn in my ongoing hunt for a super lightweight, compact computer led me to Raon's Everun UMPC. Here we find a product with a novel, albeit predictable take on the UMPC concept that has been …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 22:25

  • Model train software spat threatens future of open source

    Analysis Throws copyrights from the train

    A dispute over some open source software used for model railroads resulted in an important decision last week, involving the scope of open source licenses and the remedies available when they are violated. The decision has triggered alarm in the open source community, with a prominent open source licensing advocate charging …

    Law 24 Aug 2007, 22:35

  • Intel puts more hardware security in vPro line

    Refreshes stale chips

    After months of hyping, Intel is rolling out an update to its vPro technology featuring improved hardware-based security and manageability tools for its chips. The latest rev of vPro will see the introduction of Intel's hardware-based Trusted Execution Technology (TXT), which the company says will defend PCs against attacks …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2007, 23:31