8th October 2007 Archive

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How can I play Blu-ray Discs?

Q&A

Do I need a special player to watch Blu-ray Discs? Or will they play on a normal DVD player?

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 07:42
MS admits Halo 3 'disc unreadable' errors

But it's keeping mum about the cause...

Microsoft has refused to reveal the cause behind a fresh wave of disc problems affecting Halo 3. The company told Register Hardware that it's aware of a problem which stops the game from loading correctly, but refused to give any further explanation. Exact descriptions of the disc error differ between gamers, but all of them …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 08:03
Primary care trusts offered data analysis service

Support services step up

A new supplier framework could provide primary care trusts with data analysis services. The framework consists of 14 organisations appointed to offer support services to the NHS through a new agreement, known as the Framework for procuring External Support for Commissioners (FESC). The framework, which was announced by the …

Public Sector 8 Oct 2007, 08:58
Why UML won't save your project

Modelling a badly thought-out project just doesn't help...

The project's been wobbling along for 18 months. A bottle of champagne just went to the tester who logged the one millionth bug in TestDirector (and everybody cheered), the lead programmer looks like a raccoon that's discovered a departed junkie's heroin stash buried beneath a tree, half the programmers have quit, and the …

Software 8 Oct 2007, 09:02
The Misfit Geek and AJAX acceptability

Microsoft strategy explained

If you had any doubts about just how far Ajax has come, you had only take a look at the speakers list for the recent AJAXWorld Conference in Santa Clara, California. Joining the faithful such as Sun Microsystems distinguished engineer and chief technology officer (CTO) Bob Brewin, was the executive responsible for setting …

Applications 8 Oct 2007, 09:02
Law & Order takes on Second Life

Internet drama meets TV drama

The blurred lines between virtual worlds and the real world have been examined in a recent episode of US drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. A fictitious virtual world cleverly called Another YOUniverse, which bears a striking resemblance to Second Life, is the main focus of a recent episode of the investigative drama. The …

Entertainment 8 Oct 2007, 09:02
Eircom moves closer to split

Reports of submission confirmed

The Irish Department of Communications has confirmed reports that Eircom has made a submission regarding splitting the company. A spokeswoman for the Department told ENN that Eircom made the submission recently and that the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, is currently studying it. "It's …

Financial News 8 Oct 2007, 09:17
Lords to rule on overseas credit card protection

Appeal threatens confidence in e-commerce

A forthcoming decision by the House of Lords could seriously dent confidence in cross-border e-commerce. The Lords have been hearing arguments in the case this week. The Consumer Credit Act allows shoppers to claim refunds from credit card issuers if they encounter problems with goods purchased using a card. Section 75 of …

Law 8 Oct 2007, 09:27
Cheap PS3 won't help Blu-ray, claim HD DVD backers

Can't hinder the format, though

Sony's plan to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 in Europe will have "minimal" impact on the adoption of next-generation optical disc formats, the group promoting HD DVD over here has claimed. The European HD DVD Promotional Group (EHPG) stuck to its argument that sales of dedicated media players will determine whether HD …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 09:32
iPod Nano in airport trouser conflagration horror

'Flames reached his chest' sobs pants-on-fire mum

An Atlanta airport worker claims his iPod Nano burst into flames while stashed in his personal region. The trouser-based blaze was apparently so severe the hapless victim was immolated up to chest level, though reportedly he sustained only superficial injuries. Danny Williams is quoted in local news reports as saying that …

PCs & Chips 8 Oct 2007, 09:44
The RIAA will come to regret its court win

Column Can you spell p-y-r-r-h-i-c v-i-c-t-o-r-y?

You can understand why an unpublished writer might resort to blooking; but when a successful author with a best-selling business title behind him gives away a chapter a week, it piques curiosity. Gerd Leonhard is an ex-muso, with a message for the recording industry. Judging by the RIAA's triumphant win receiving $220,000 in …

Law 8 Oct 2007, 09:48
El Reg triumphs in media battle of the wits

No spelling round. Phew.

The Register emerged triumphant and almost upright from a pub quiz which pitted the cream of London media against each other. Terror scares and light drizzle deterred some of the teams from attending the event at Madame JoJo's in Soho last Monday: including Xfm and The Daily Telegraph. Despite points lost through blatant …

Site News 8 Oct 2007, 10:07
Apple updates iPod software

Apple has updated the software resident on its iPod Classic and third-gen iPod Nano - reviewed here and here, respectively - that's said to improve the players' Cover Flow performance. The new software, version 1.0.2, comes hot on the heels of version 1.0.1, and likewise comes with little in the way of explanation from Apple …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 10:20
SMS-enabled solar parking meters for Eastbourne

Txt chat hits new levels of tedium

The Sussex coastal town of Eastbourne is soon to receive a new hi-tech boon, in the form of solar-powered armoured parking meters which can send text messages. Apparently the machines, each of which has its own SIM card, aren't endowed with Douglas Adams style overspec'd artificial intelligence brains. Nobody need fear that a …

Government 8 Oct 2007, 10:35
Nuclear accident messier than we thought

Checking Windscale's sums after 50 years

The amount of radioactive fallout from the Windscale nuclear accident half a century ago was grossly underestimated, according to new research. In 1957, a fire broke out at one of two nuclear reactors on the Windscale site when its graphite control rods overheated. The fire was extinguished with water, deemed necessary to limit …

Science 8 Oct 2007, 10:51
SAP splashes out on BO

Updated: €4.8bn buys software firm and strategy change

SAP is offering €4.8bn (£3.3bn) for Business Objects - a strategy change for the German company which usually develops technology inhouse rather than making big purchases. The move is also a boost for the business intelligence market. Business Objects (BO) will continue to function as a separate company, but will share execs …

Applications 8 Oct 2007, 11:07
MPs call for ID theft czar

October revolution aims to topple cybercrime kingpins

UK politicians are calling for the creation of an identity theft "czar" to lead the fight against the growing form of crime. The Parliamentary All Party Group on Identity Fraud said the role is needed to co-ordinate work by the government, police, and private sector. The committee of MPs also want police to appoint dedicated …

ID 8 Oct 2007, 11:10
Genetics boffins on the verge of artificial bacteria

The other Second Life

Genetics entrepreneur Craig Venter claims his team is on the verge of creating the first artificial lifeform. In an interview with The Guardian this weekend, Venter said his company, Synthetic Genomics, has completed an artificial chromosome that will carry all necessary genes for a viable bacterium. It's planned that the DNA …

Biology 8 Oct 2007, 11:33
Stem cell prof wins Nobel prize

Switching off mouse genes

Cardiff University professor Martin Evans has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his research on embryonic stem cells. He shares the prize with his two colleagues, Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies of the University of Utah and the University of North Carolina respectively. According to the official announcement, …

Biology 8 Oct 2007, 11:34
New product code points to revamped Wii?

Accessory bundle, perhaps - or DVD playback

Nintendo has set tongues wagging with its registration of a second Wii universal product code (UPC). The move is prompting the console's fans to speculate that it could signal the arrival of a new version of the machine. The new code, for a product known only as "New Pack", is 0045496880088 - only one digit out from the Wii's …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 11:41
Clap-controlled TV consigns remote to bin of history

A round of applause, please

Losing your TV's remote control down the back of your sofa could soon become a thing of the past. JVC has its sights on replacing traditional TV operation with hand movements and sounds. JVC's TV: operated by claps and... er... hand gestures At last week's Ceatec technology show in Japan, the company demonstrated a TV …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 11:56
Get a grip, file-sharing freeloaders: you've never had it so good

Comment Don't get mad, get licensed

Last week, the ailing sound recording industry in America found someone even dumber to pick on. Kazaa user Jammie Thomas had got on the internet, and was doing just what the adverts and mass media say you should do once you're there - fill your boots with free stuff. This is a case that should make everyone involved feel …

Law 8 Oct 2007, 12:15
Info chief shrugs off Bluetooth regulation

Blue spam free for all

The Information Commissioner will no longer regulate the use of Bluetooth mobile technology, prompting fears of a wave of "Bluetooth spam". The commissioner no longer considers the wireless connection technology to be covered by the UK's privacy laws. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) upholds the Privacy and …

Law 8 Oct 2007, 12:39
Boeing robo-chopper for DARPA's super-spyeye

Multi-channel perve platform gets whisper mode

Arms'n'airliners behemoth Boeing has announced that its autonomous robotic stealth chopper, the A160T, will be the initial carrying platform for a new US airborne surveillance payload. The radical new spy system will not be so much an aerial camera as an all-seeing insect-style compound bugeye able to simultaneously look at many …

Physics 8 Oct 2007, 12:45
McDonald's goes McWireless

Extra value Wi-Fry

Proletarian fryhouse McDonald's has announced it will offer free Wi-Fi in its 1,200 UK burger outlets by the end of the year. The move will make McDonald's the country's largest public hotspot provider, and pits it against Starbucks' pay-as-you-go T-Mobile service for high street internet supremacy. It's all part of a …

Data Networking 8 Oct 2007, 13:11
Church slams cathedral gun battle game's Bafta nomination

'Sacriligeous' Resistance: Fall of Man up for a gong

The Church of England is pleading with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) to remove PlayStation 3 game Resistance: Fall of Man (RFOM) from its Video Games Awards because the game depicts the alleged desecration of Manchester Cathedral. Sony's RFOM: a shoot-out in Manchester Cathedral The Dean of …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 13:16
Slingbox Solo TV-over-the-net device

Review Slingbox pared back to basics

Sling Media's Slingbox Solo is for all those folk who already have a digital TV set-top box and don't fancy forking out for a local network and internet video streaming gadget that has an on-board tuner of its own. Sling's Slingbox Solo: tuner-less The Solo sports the usual truncated triangle look of all previous Slingboxes …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 13:16
UK's future depends on science and technology

Holders of government science budgets delighted

Lord Sainsbury has called for an overhaul of the way science and technology is taught in Britain, saying that without a new approach we risk losing our place in the global economy. He says more specialist science teachers must be trained or recruited, and that science students must be given better careers advice. The report, …

Science 8 Oct 2007, 13:17
Japanese in exoskeleton ancestor-respect scheme

Motorised wrinkly porta-parent plan

Most people who follow robotics and exoskeletonry are aware of the superannuated surge projected for the Japanese population in coming decades, and the governmental plan to mostly have robots look after the burgeoning blue-rinsed hordes. This will free up the relatively few folks of working age left in the land of the Rising …

Science 8 Oct 2007, 13:59
Interpol launches worldwide hunt for abuse pics man

Cops unscramble face

Interpol has launched an unprecedented international appeal for information in the hunt for a man featured in child abuse pictures whose face was obscured using graphics software. Imaging specialists at Germany's Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Investigation Office) unscrambled several images of the man, known online as " …

Law 8 Oct 2007, 14:20
Operators show Nokia who wears the housut*

Exclusive You and whose portal?

Nokia is being handed a sharp lesson in business basics: don't compete with your biggest customers. In August, the Finnish phone giant announced it was going "beyond the phone" and creating an online portal called Ovi in a bid to become a major service company. This would offer music, maps and games - bringing it into …

Mobile 8 Oct 2007, 14:28
VMware makes storage fluid

The point to point upgrade

Fresh off a blockbuster IPO and its user conference, VMware has divulged details around upcoming additions to its flagship software. Out of all the new bits and bobs in ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, customers may find some storage tools most appealing. VMware has crafted a storage replica of its VMotion technology used …

Virtualization 8 Oct 2007, 14:53
Government websites invaded by smut and spyware

Redirection ruse used to peddle smut bazaars

A slew of government organisations and corporations are unwittingly helping hackers promote porn sites. Targets as diverse as the Marin County Transportation Authority website in California and the Bank of Ghana have been unwittingly playing host to code that redirects surfers to smut as a result of insecure systems. The …

Enterprise Security 8 Oct 2007, 14:57
Tax man praised for owning up to lost laptop

Encrypted PC passes leak test

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has become the latest organisation to apologise to clients as the result of a lost laptop. A machine containing personal data was stolen from the car of an HMRC staff member last month, the UK tax department confirmed on Monday. The tax worker had been using the laptop for a routine audit of tax …

ID 8 Oct 2007, 15:14
Do you want a high-score with that?

Burger King chomps on mobile gaming

Proletarian grill joint Burger King has announced its intention to broaden its brand into mobile phone games, to be developed by Mobliss and promoted in US branches. The games will be (shock) burger-related, with the first requiring the user to complete tasks within a Burger-King-themed city in order to become the protégé of " …

Mobile 8 Oct 2007, 15:22
BT offers £1K for Wi-Fi application

Why do mobile phones have Wi-Fi?

BT is offering £1,000 to the best mobile phone application that uses a Wi-Fi connection for something, anything, in an attempt to work out just what such connections are for. The "Developer Challenge Competition" is open to anyone who can put together a Symbian application - Symbian is supporting the competition, so Java …

Telecoms 8 Oct 2007, 15:36
T-shirt helps geeks detect Wi-Fi networks

Wearable wireless-finder

Booting up your laptop only to find there are no Wi-Fi networks nearby is a pain. Thankfully, geeks everywhere can now find a signal for surfing by simply looking down at their apparel. Wi-Fi shirt: all the right signals The Wi-Fi Detector Shirt has a basestation design on its front with signal waves emanating from it that …

Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2007, 15:48
Canadian prof develops drunk-driving sim

Why not just get lashed and play Gran Turismo?

A new videogame has been developed which aims to simulate the experience of drunk driving. The game, named "Booze Cruise", was coded as an academic project aimed at social betterment, rather than a sick commercial stunt to cash in on the worst aspects of human nature. "The basic story is that this person is absolutely pissed …

Bootnotes 8 Oct 2007, 15:53
Reborn Teradata bets on the unexpected

~~Datawastes~~ Databases are magic

Okay, it's not exactly the slip of the tongue a CEO wants one week after taking his company public. Teradata chief Michael Koehler appeared before close to 4,000 people here at the company's user conference and talked about Teradata's excellence with "datawastes" – er make that databases. Even the cynics at El Reg can forgive …

Servers 8 Oct 2007, 18:53
Intel asks EC to relax deadline

Needs more time for antitrust response

Intel is asking the European Commission for more time to respond to antitrust charges. Chipzilla was hit with a formal statement of objections by the European regulator in in July. The EC accuses the company of abusing its dominant market position to boot rival AMD out of the European scene. Today was the original deadline …

Channel Register 8 Oct 2007, 19:59
ID thieves bring ease of use to trafficking forums

Stolen info translated into German, Albanian and French at no additional cost

As cyber crime goes mainstream, a working knowledge of English is no longer a required skill for identity thieves trafficking in stolen credit card numbers and other personal data. Just ask Matthew Miller, a pharmacist from Pennsylvania, who recently learned miscreants had translated some of his personal details into French …

ID 8 Oct 2007, 20:03
ITU pools experts to thwart cybercrime

Meetings about meetings

Experts from around the world gathered in Geneva last week to discus how to fight cybercrime through international co-operation. The meeting, held under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union, also sought to promote cybersecurity, in general. ITU's Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) aims to build on existing …

Crime 8 Oct 2007, 20:11
Google and IBM push cluster computing on colleges

Program lends gear, curriculum to academia

Google and IBM want their future employees to have large-scale cluster computing chops, so they're investing several million to get them while they're young. The companies are teaming up to promote the study in academia. Their ambition is to lower the cost and logistics of collegial research on parallel computing — a …

Servers 8 Oct 2007, 22:13
Fujitsu to buy Swedish reseller

Mandator

Fujitsu Services is buying Mandator, the Swedish reseller, for $78m in cash - roughly one times annual revenues. The price, three Swedish crowns per share, represents a 30 per cent premium on Mandator's stock price in the ten days before the offer was announced. The offer is recommended by Mandator's board of directors - …

Channel Register 8 Oct 2007, 23:07
Kiddie coders embrace Facebook as new-age dev platform

Linked in - but not LinkedIn

Reid Hoffman believes that Facebook has a big future as a development platform, arguing that many fresh-from-college coders will turn to the popular social networking site when building their next Web-based entertainment application. But he questions whether the Facebook "friends list" - or "social graph" - is suited to business …

Developer 8 Oct 2007, 23:12