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17th September 2007 Archive

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  • Unsung software developers behind rise in online fraud

    Tool kits spark explosion in malicious code base, says Symantec

    One weekend in June, a little-known Trojan downloader made a major debut on the international malware stage after it managed to burrow its way into more than 10,000 websites in just 72 hours. Infected sites - including one connected to rock musician Bon Jovi and another that raises money for charity work of the late Mother …

    Enterprise Security 17 Sep 2007, 04:02

  • Microsoft vs European Commission: the verdict

    Loses appeal but can ditch trustee oversight

    Microsoft has lost its appeal against European Commission charges of anti-competitive behaviour. Bo Vesterdorf the softly spoken retiring judge of the Court of First Instance led the judges into the Luxembourg courtroom and invited everyone to sit. He quickly and quietly delivered the verdict, stood and led the judges out …

    Software 17 Sep 2007, 08:08

  • Patient info ends up on eBay

    NHS trust hard drives at knock-down prices

    The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust is trying to find out how one of its computers full of confidential medical information was sold on eBay. Disposal of the DGoH's computers is carried out under contract to Siemens Medical Solutions, as part of a PFI agreement. Computer Disposals has a sub-contract with Siemens to …

    Public Sector 17 Sep 2007, 09:37

  • The Christmas Console Wars: round one to Xbox?

    Battle for the wrapping paper begins

    In the run-up to the Christmas season, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will all be eagerly analysing sales figures in an attempt to declare their own console champion of champions. Microsoft has already made the first move and declared that it's in the best position to win the race to that place under the tree. Microsoft UK's …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 09:37

  • Intel snaps up Dublin gaming firm

    Swallows Havok

    Dublin-based games middleware company Havok is to be taken over by chip manufacturer Intel in a deal valued at over $100m. The chip giant bought Havok in an all-cash transaction valued at $110m according to TVC Holdings, which sold its interests in the gaming firm as part of the deal. The agreement, which is expected to close …

    Financial News 17 Sep 2007, 09:50

  • Microsoft sets spinners on court verdict

    Reaction to failed appeal

    Microsoft may have lost in court, but it quickly tried to win the war of media reaction via organisations like CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association and ACT (the Association for Competitive Technology) which both intervened in court on its side. A statement from CompTIA said the court decision to uphold the …

    Software 17 Sep 2007, 09:59

  • FTSE 100 switchboards confused by data protection

    Er, excuse me. Data what?

    The UK's biggest companies still struggle to deal with basic data protection enquiries, according to a survey of responses. Though almost all companies have taken some action, the majority are only paying "lip service" to the issue, the report (pdf) said. Agency Marketing Improvement has carried out previous tests in 2003 and …

    ID 17 Sep 2007, 10:14

  • Could you give up your desk phone?

    Mobile Workshop Cutting the cord

    Mobile phones are now pervasive in the business environment. Love them or hate them, there’s no getting away from the fact that many of us are using them as an integral part of day to day communications. Most of mobile phone users, however, also have a phone sitting on their desk, and are routinely juggling two separate …

    Workshop 17 Sep 2007, 10:18

  • The importance of 'whole journey' email encryption

    Leave no weak spots

    It is very rare for an organisation to mandate less security in its IT systems. In fact, the relentless march of new threats places pressure on us all to increase our levels of security, to ensure we can match new and emerging attacks. Email is one of the most potent business tools that we have, but also one of the most …

    Security 17 Sep 2007, 10:27

  • Thrustmaster unveils Wii peripherals kit

    Whoopee Wii

    Gaming peripherals manufacturer Thrustmaster claims to have created the world’s first programmable and vibrating wireless gamepad, which is also compatible with GameCube and Nintendo Virtual Console games played on the Wii. The T-Wireless NW: will Wii fans love it? Dubbed the T-Wireless NW, the pad operates on 2.4GHz …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 11:03

  • ESO galaxy hunters come up trumps

    Searching the skies with quasars

    Galaxy-hunting astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have turned up 14 previously undiscovered starburst galaxies, thanks to a new searching technique. A starburst galaxy is one in the throes of rapid star formation. The team says some of the galaxies are spawning new stars at a rate of 20 suns per day. …

    Space 17 Sep 2007, 11:03

  • W3C sets standards for SOA and Web 2.0

    Promises better web apps

    The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has announced two standards aimed at bringing order to the web. In early September W3C introduced Web Services Policy 1.5, giving developers a way to connect web services standards such as SOAP 1.2, WSDL 2.0, and XML Schema to new Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) based applications. And …

    Developer 17 Sep 2007, 11:04

  • Arctic sea ice loosens grip on Northwest Passage

    Sparks territorial rights row

    The Northwest Passage, a much-sought shipping route, opened to sea traffic this summer, as arctic sea ice fell to the lowest levels observed since we started keeping track almost 30 years ago. Pictures of the open sea were captured by European Space Agency satellites. Satellite image showing the clear seas of the Northwest …

    Science 17 Sep 2007, 11:09

  • Aussie politicos in a froth over naval boob jobs

    Storm, B-cup ... you get the picture

    Australian politicians have criticised a decision by armed forces medical authorities to pay for two female sailors' breast enlargement operations. The BBC reported yesterday that a plastic surgeon in Australia said he had carried out two such procedures for a total cost of around £8,500. Just to put this in perspective, that's …

    Bootnotes 17 Sep 2007, 11:18

  • Vista attacked by 13-year-old virus

    Updated Stoned.Angelina socks it to 'em

    A batch of laptops pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium was found to have been infected with a 13-year-old boot sector virus. Those of you with a long memory will vividly recall the year 1994: Nirvana's lead singer Kurt Cobain died, South Africa held its first multi-racial elections, and Tony Blair became leader of …

    Malware 17 Sep 2007, 11:22

  • Left-handeders finally unlock the closet, researchers find

    A sinister development

    Scientists have been left scratching their heads with both hands, after research showed the number of left-handed people in the population has almost quadrupled over the last 100 years. According to The Telegraph, the proportion of folks fiddling with standard corkscrews and taking their lives in their hands by using right- …

    Biology 17 Sep 2007, 11:23

  • DIY PS3 import

    Q&A

    If I had mates in Hong Kong, Australia and the States, which one should I ask to buy and send me a PlayStation3, particularly with consideration to compatability with UK electrics and prices?

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 11:46

  • O2 to launch iPhone tomorrow?

    UK network operators fight to the death for the iPhone

    Apple fan boys may soon discover which UK network provider they must switch to in order to secure an iPhone. An online source has reported that O2 may tomorrow announce a deal with Apple for the much-hyped handset. Apple's iPhone: would you switch networks to get one? The deal is thought to be announced at a press event …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 12:01

  • Microsoft thanks EU after losing its appeal

    General counsel insists still committed to Europe

    Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith has given the company's first response to the rejection of its appeal against the European Commission's anti-trust action. The Court of First Instance ruled that the commission was right to fine Microsoft €497m and to order it to provide competitors with interoperability information for …

    Software 17 Sep 2007, 12:02

  • Google gloats over ISO's OOXML rejection

    No fast-tracking for you, sonny

    Google has proved unable to restrain itself from gloating over the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) decision not to approve Microsoft's request that the OOXML specification be fast-tracked for approval. The search giant promptly fired off a blog entry slating both the specification and the way the …

    Software 17 Sep 2007, 12:12

  • Elgato EyeTV 250 Plus TV tuner with MPEG 2 encoder

    Review The ideal DVR kit for low-horsepower Macs?

    When we reviewed Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid almost a year ago, we found it a darn fine analogue and digital TV tuner. With its analogue input port, it's a pretty good way to digitise your old VHS tapes and feeds from set-top boxes. The company has now released the EyeTV 250 Plus, which replicates the Hybrid's feature set. Did it need …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 12:53

  • Microsoft: no plan to appeal EC verdict for now

    Smith starts reading judgement, thanks commission again

    Microsoft has yet to decide whether to appeal the verdict of the Court of First Instance, according to the company's general counsel Brad Smith. Speaking in Brussels, Smith said: "We've not made that determination on whether to appeal. We've barely read the decision once. You would need to read this decision a few times …

    Software 17 Sep 2007, 13:52

  • DARPA seeks flexible ion-drive tech for spy sats

    Nippy yet economical astro-peepers wanted

    The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon death-boffin hothouse where ideas don't have to be mad to get funding but it doesn't hurt either, has issued a new request for proposals. This time, the groundbreaking military gambler-profs are after hugely more flexible ion engines for use in spacecraft. In …

    Space 17 Sep 2007, 14:35

  • Innocent 'terror techie' purges DNA records

    Proved exceptional

    More than two years after his arrest and subsequent release, techie and some-time Reg contributor David Mery has succeeded in purging the police databases of his fingerprints and DNA. Mery was arrested in London (at an underground station) three weeks after four misguided* souls blew up the public transport network. He was …

    Law 17 Sep 2007, 14:37

  • Build malware protection into operating systems

    Security guru calls for integrity

    Malware protection needs to be built into operating systems rather than bolted on as an afterthought if the industry stands any chance of dealing with the evolving threat of targeted attacks, according to a senior security researcher. Joanna Rutkowska, chief exec of Invisible Things Lab, who is best known for her research on …

    Security 17 Sep 2007, 14:49

  • Nokia gets into mobile advertising

    Pockets Enpocket

    Nokia continues its path towards being a consumer-service provider with its acquisition of Enpocket, a specialist in the delivery of targeted mobile advertising. Enpocket is a leader in mobile advertising, using technologies such as MMS, WAP, and streaming video services to get the message out to mobile phones. Most of its …

    Mobile 17 Sep 2007, 14:50

  • PC superstore suffers breakdown over Linux notebook

    PC World's PR fails to trickle down

    PC World's shop floor management and the PR machine behind the retail behemoth's marketing strategy appear not to be on the same page when it comes to customer satisfaction. You may recall our report last week about how a PC World customer, known to us only as Tikka, had been refused a hardware repair to his broken, still …

    PCs & Chips 17 Sep 2007, 14:59

  • California clamps down on in-car mobile use

    But only if you're under 21

    California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has banned the use of mobile phones while driving, but only for those under the age of 21. The rest of the population is free to chat while cruising down the freeway, eating ice cream out of a bucket and reading Sports Illustrated. The 60-year-old ex-Terminator said in a statement …

    Mobile 17 Sep 2007, 15:20

  • Sony to break out of Cell?

    Toshiba earmarked to gobble firm's chip biz

    Sony could be set for a big chip payday by backing away from its semiconductor biz and selling it off to Toshiba, if industry rumours prove correct. According to several speculative reports, a sale is imminent with discussions between the two Japanese tech giants said to be at an advanced stage. Production lines up for grabs …

    PCs & Chips 17 Sep 2007, 15:52

  • USAF flying deathbot power-grab rebuffed

    Aerial killdroids escape military pilots' union

    The US Air Force (USAF)'s plan to seize control of almost all American flying killbots has been rebuffed, according to reports. At present, a wide variety of remote-controlled and/or autonomous aircraft are operated by all four branches of the US military*. The USAF has been pointing out for some time that this can lead to …

    Security 17 Sep 2007, 15:55

  • Chuck Norris has two speeds: Walk and Kill

    Poll update Bearded death machine whups kung fu ass

    There's still time to vote in our reader poll to decide just who is the hardest kick-ass mutha on the planet, but it looks like bearded death machine Chuck Norris will finally secure the title unless the Shaolin Temple kung fu monks can rally for a last stand. Chuck is currently standing on 25 per cent of the vote, and in case …

    Entertainment 17 Sep 2007, 17:55

  • Gear4 BlackBox audio systems touch down

    Accessory specialist Gear4 has created two audio systems with chic appeal. The BlackBox and BlackBox Mini would both sit well in a Tate Modern exhibition, but could also provide you with some decent audio too. Gear4's BlackBox (rear), BlackBox Mini (front) BlackBox is the house-bound daddy of the two, while the Mini is …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 17:59

  • Warner puts Blu-ray, HD DVD combo disc 'on hold'

    Studio insufficiently interested in 'glu-ray disc'

    Will Glu-ray Disc ever make it to market? It's certainly looking less likely that the Blu-ray and HD DVD single-disc combo product from Warner Home Video (WHV), dubbed TotalHD, is going to happen. Speaking in an interview trade-oriented website This Week in Consumer Electronics, WHV President Ron Sanders said the format was " …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 18:01

  • OQO touts UMPC with solid state drive

    A laptop for your pocket

    Manufacturer OQO today unveiled its latest Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) incarnation at a London press event. It claims the palm-sized Model e2 boasts the smallest form factor currently available and it ships with Windows Vista, alongside an optional solid state drive (SSD). OQO's Model e2: small but powerful The e2 is broken up …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 18:07

  • Hitachi opens UK storage admin call centre

    Threatens suicide prevention hotline's beat

    Hitachi has opened a new service command center to remotely manage large and mid-market data centers from its UK headquarters at Sefton Park in Stoke Poges. Its Storage Operations Centre will serve as a base where Hitachi administrators can fiddle with their customers' storage centers from afar and around the clock. Hitachi …

    Storage 17 Sep 2007, 18:22

  • Dell grabs ex-Sun comms chief

    On a Lark

    Dell 2.0 has acquired former Sun Microsystems corporate communications chief Andy Lark as its new VP of marketing and communications. Lark, most recently CMO at start-up LogLogic, will report to Dell's CMO Mark Jarvis. This places a Brit - Jarvis - and a Kiwi - Lark - as Dell's marketing leads, which should add some interesting …

    Servers 17 Sep 2007, 18:23

  • Venezuelan man survives autopsy

    Not quite as dead as he appeared

    A Venezuelan car crash victim who had been declared dead gave morgue examiners a nasty shock by waking up as he went under the knife, Reuters reports. Carlos Camejo, 33, was not as deceased as he should have been for the planned autopsy, and was woken from his undead state by the "excruciating pain" of a scalpel to the face. He …

    Biology 17 Sep 2007, 19:04

  • Intel to buy games physics company

    Intel is to buy Havok, one of the two major developers of physics technology for games. But the chip company may have its eye on loftier applications. The chip giant didn't say how much it was paying for Havok, but the smaller operation will be wholly owned by Intel, but run as an independent operation, presumably to keep …

    Reg Hardware 17 Sep 2007, 19:13

  • Bell Canada in Sex Pistols billboard ad gaffe

    Holocaust reference not a gas

    Bell Canada is suitably red-faced after deploying a billboard campaign featuring a young woman dressed in punk rock attire and proudly sporting a badge declaring "Belsen was a gas". According to Reuters, the ads for Bell Canada's Solo discount service "appeared in mass-transit systems in Vancouver, British Columbia, as well as …

    Bootnotes 17 Sep 2007, 19:42

  • Chernobyl to get new steel lid

    $1.4bn 'containment structure'

    Ukrainian authorities will spend an estimated $1.4bn of foreign donors' cash covering the remains of Chernobyl nuclear power plant's No 4 reactor with a new "containment structure", the BBC reports. French company Novarka needs five years to construct the "giant arch-shaped structure", 190 metres wide and 200m long, to replace …

    Physics 17 Sep 2007, 20:57

  • Salesforce force feeds SaaS to the masses

    Dreamforce Whoo oo oo ooo... Can you feel the force?

    Chief executive Marc Benioff today kicked-off Salesforce.com's fifth, annual Dreamforce conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco by citing customer numbers, growing developer and partner channels, and increased revenues as proof that Salesforce.com will force its way onto the software industry's table. Salesforce.com …

    Applications 17 Sep 2007, 22:04

  • MS shines Silverlight into thin AIR (and kicks 'beaten up' Google Gears)

    We say 'Hah!' to your puny desktop experience

    At the Mix07 conference in London last week, Scott Guthrie, co-inventor of ASP.NET and Microsoft's general manager for the technology, presented the latest plans for ASP.NET and Silverlight and took a swipe at the competition in the process. Version 1.1 of Silverlight is set for release during 2008, and looks compelling for . …

    Developer 17 Sep 2007, 23:09

  • Acronis grabs virtual servers by their backups

    'We're in the moving business'

    Data protection specialist Acronis has jumped on the virtualization bandwagon with a product aimed at handling data backups for physical and virtual servers. The company has built on its True Image product line with True Image Echo. The software performs backup and recovery tasks for most of the major virtualization platforms, …

    Storage 17 Sep 2007, 23:23

  • Yahoo! Agrees! To! Acquire! Talking! Heads! Song!

    More Google envy

    Yahoo! is to pay roughly $350m for Zimbra, a San Mateo, California company that specializes in open-source email and collaboration software. It looks like Yahoo! plans to use Zimbra's new-age Exchange competitor to "expand its presence" in universities, businesses, and ISPs. "Zimbra's tremendous talent and innovative …

    Telecoms 17 Sep 2007, 23:25

  • James Bond ditches the Aston Martin

    Back to a Bentley for 007

    Author Sebastian Faulks has agreeably announced that James Bond will get back behind the wheel of a Bentley for next year's literary celebration of the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth - entitled Devil May Care. According to the Telegraph, Faulks confirmed 007 will fire up a "battleship grey" example of the marque, the same …

    Music and Media 17 Sep 2007, 23:25