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11th October 2007 Archive

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  • Mozilla mobilizes for mobile Firefox browser

    'We plan to rock it'

    Mozilla is prepping a mobile version of Firefox, the world's most popular open-source web browser. "People ask us all the time about what Mozilla's going to do about the mobile web," reads a blog post from VP of engineering Mike Schroepfer, "and I'm very excited to announce that we plan to rock it." He says the company will …

    Applications 11 Oct 2007, 00:54

  • Binary interfaces in component development

    Part 2 A template class with static data - how can that possibly go wrong?

    In the first part of this series we looked at how problems emerge when we make the transformation from source code to binary code, and we saw that even when the code is correct errors can be introduced by using dynamic libraries instead of a monolithic binary. With some simple examples, we’re starting to see problems, using a …

    Software 11 Oct 2007, 08:02

  • Open source CMS - promise without pitfall

    Introductions all round

    Open source has changed operating systems, application servers and databases. Now, the benefits of open source are being realized in content management systems (CMS), traditionally a vendor-controlled world of expensive licensing and closed APIs. Open source is putting CMS into the hands of developers and organizations …

    Software 11 Oct 2007, 09:02

  • UK ID card service mounts birth, marriage, death landgrab

    A big hello to whole-life logging

    The UK Identity & Passport Service (IPS) has staged an identity landgrab on birth, marriage and death records. From April 2008 the General Register Office, which is responsible for recording these matters and is currently a directorate of the Office of National Statistics, is to become part of IPS, meaning that IPS will be …

    Government 11 Oct 2007, 09:02

  • MP warns against Microsoft monopoly in e-gov services

    'Those who don't use Windows should simply not bother'

    Citizens are being excluded from e-government services because they don't have the right software, an MP has warned. Liberal Democrat MP Dr John Pugh believes the government is unwittingly creating a Microsoft monopoly in its delivery of online services because, in many cases, the public can only access them by using the US …

    Policy 11 Oct 2007, 09:09

  • Dot-mobi domains go to highest bidders

    Auction generates $850,000

    The first dot-mobi auction has closed on a high, with domain name marketplace Sedo.com selling 100 mobile web addresses to the highest bidders. This was the first time the mobile domain names have been sold through an auction process rather than on a "first come, first served" basis. The web addresses were some of the 5,500 " …

    Mobile 11 Oct 2007, 09:23

  • Apple nears MacBook revamp release?

    Speed bump and new iMac-like enclosure suggested

    Revamped Apple MacBook laptops appear to be nearing release, if online reports to be believed. The new models could be the first to sport revised power adaptors prompted byan apparent revision of the unit that ships with the MacBook Pro. The new MacBooks are likely to be speed-bumped versions of the machines available today, …

    Hardware 11 Oct 2007, 09:29

  • Disney download rapped for cost and clarity

    ASA slams Mickey Mouse outfit

    The Walt Disney Company has been censured by the UK advertising watchdog for not making clear that a children's mobile phone game cost £5 in its advertising. Disney broke Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) rules on truthfulness and pricing and was told to change its advertising. The ASA also told the company to make sure …

    Law 11 Oct 2007, 09:42

  • DA suppressed Alabama Baptist pastor autopsy

    Died of suffocation, but why?

    On 24 June this year, 51-year-old Reverend Gary M Aldridge, senior pastor at the Thorington Road Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, was found dead at his home having failed to put in an appearance at that morning's services. A preliminary autopsy by Dr Stephen Boudreaux "indicated that Aldridge died of suffocation, and that …

    Law 11 Oct 2007, 09:55

  • Sage rips hole in US management team

    Spits out bullish forecast as shares dive

    Software maker Sage Group today said that it had ousted two senior executives from the American division of its business. It also said performance for the year ended 30 September continued to be in line with market expectations. Sage said its chief executive Ron Verni and chief financial officer Jim Ecjstaedt had left the …

    The Channel 11 Oct 2007, 10:02

  • EU privacy verdict on Google set for new year

    Data D-Day

    European data watchdogs will deliver their judgement on whether Google's data warehousing policies are violating privacy laws in the new year. Reuters reports an official from the Article 29 Working Group said yesterday: "We have written to Google to say that we are continuing our work, that it is not limited to Google, and …

    Law 11 Oct 2007, 10:09

  • Security spending soars

    Enforcement tech eats up 20% of IT budgets

    Organisations are spending as much as 20 per cent of their IT budgets on security, according to a new survey. A poll of 1,070 organisations commissioned by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) found that spending on information security has increased markedly over recent years and shows no signs of letting up …

    The Channel 11 Oct 2007, 10:33

  • RIM settles SureType patent infringement spat

    Licenses predictive text tech from Eatoni

    Research In Motion (RIM) has reached an agreement with Eatoni Ergonomics, a little-known developer of predictive text input software for mobile devices, who claimed the Canadian company's BlackBerry incorporated technology it had no right to use. Neither party would disclose the full terms of the deal, but they include RIM …

    Phones 11 Oct 2007, 10:45

  • Boeing delays 787 Dreamliner

    Six month knock-back to November 2008

    Boeing has delayed delivery of its 787 Dreamliner by six months, shortly after rather recklessly claiming it could dispatch the first example to All-Nippon Airways by May 2008 following a compressed flight test schedule. The Boeing Dreamliner in All-Nippon Airways livery. Some of the aircraft's suppliers describe this …

    Science 11 Oct 2007, 10:46

  • JVC floats buoyant speaker for bathtimes

    If you can’t bear to be separated from your music while taking a bath, JVC may be able to help you. It’s created a speaker that’s actually designed to float alongside you while you take your daily scrub. JVC's floating speaker The XA-AW33-W is marketed as a "healing player", although its medicinal properties aren’t …

    Hardware 11 Oct 2007, 10:56

  • Preterite peter-out: How the end beginned

    Dark forces of regularisation smite irregular verbs

    Those of you who like your English as God intended - complete with the inexplicable spellings and irregular verbs which cause such woe to students of our beloved mother tongue - will doubtless be alarmed at the news that the irregular preterite is heading for possible extinction as the forces of regularisation bring the errant …

    Bootnotes 11 Oct 2007, 11:40

  • Sony Ericsson Walkman W660i music phone

    Review 3G makeover

    Sony Ericsson has made the most of its Walkman resurrection and is cashing in on the brand's cachet with a fast-growing range. But by filing the gaps with samey phones like the 3G-capable W660i, is Sony Ericsson in danger of losing its edge? Why change a winning formula? With the W660i, Sony Ericsson doesn’t. The W660i slips …

    Phones 11 Oct 2007, 12:13

  • Rockstar to battle BBFC over Manhunt 2 ban

    Developer says ban is a 'setback for all videogames'

    Manhunt 2 developer Rockstar will fight the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) over the organisation's second refusal to grant the game a UK rating - a verdict it said was "unacceptable". Manhunt 2: still too gory for grown-up Brits? In a statement, the game developer also branded the BBFC’s latest decision, which …

    Games 11 Oct 2007, 12:42

  • YouTube invades Google Earth

    Video placemarks add a 'sense of life'

    Google Earth has announced the latest enhancement to its popular topless Dutch sunbather-spotting service in the form of a YouTube layer which "places videos in their geographical context and provides a new way of discovering and understanding the world". The facility can be found in the Featured Content folder, and a quick …

    Applications 11 Oct 2007, 12:45

  • Americans' interest rates plummet

    When it comes to internet searches that is

    Nevermind what the small ads say, it seems Americans just aren’t curious any more. Latest figures from Comscore show those living North of the Rio Grande are amongst the world’s least prolific internet searchers. The web research firm said yesterday that 61 billion searches were carried out worldwide in August, with 755 million …

    Software 11 Oct 2007, 12:53

  • Intel and Nokia make first step to forming mobile internet axis

    Comment Nokia to use Intel's chipset in WiMAX devices

    The announcement that Nokia would use Intel chips in its forthcoming WiMAX devices was hardly unexpected, given that the two giants have been working together for more than two years in this area. But it is still very valuable for Intel to have gained a firm contract rather than just a development partnership, since it has …

    Networks 11 Oct 2007, 12:55

  • 3,000 chickens paralyse central Scotland

    Lorry crash poultry pandemonium

    A jack-knifed lorry this morning brought much of central Scotland to a standstill after its cargo of 3,000 chickens broke loose onto the A80 near Haggs, paralysing road traffic and "causing huge tailbacks across the Forth Valley". According to the BBC, the vehicle in question discharged its load at 4.30am on the road's …

    Bootnotes 11 Oct 2007, 12:56

  • Chemistry Nobel awarded to semiconductor boffin

    While Doris Lessing scoops literature gong

    The Nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to Gerhard Ertl, now based at Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, for his work in establishing a fundamental experimental approach to surface chemistry. His experiments laid the foundations, quite literally, for the development of catalytic converters. He …

    Science 11 Oct 2007, 13:15

  • $3 trillion gets you 14m Microsofts at PC World (Ballmers not inc.)

    To subscribe to Channel Register's weekly newsletter - seven days of channel news in a single hit - click here.

    As usual, we'll start with the good news. Carly Fiorina is back in the public eye after far too long an absence following her departure from HP two years ago. The former CEO and chairman of HP will serve as a commentator for Fox Business Network, a financial news television channel being launched by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp …

    The Channel 11 Oct 2007, 13:18

  • Korea IPTV deal recasts Sony PS3 as set-top box

    Korea Telecom will next month connect its IPTV service that will feed shows to Sony's PlayStation 3 games console. Mega TV launched in June - the same month the PS3 officially went on sale in Korea - this year as a HD-capable revamp of KT's earlier, standard-definition only Megapass internet TV offering. Last month, KT rolled …

    Games 11 Oct 2007, 13:26

  • Mystery Israeli satellite telly disruption blamed on UN

    Independence Day-style alien invasion plot discounted

    Mysterious high-powered transmissions have caused a month of severe interference with Israeli satellite television, threatening the commercial viability of the country's major sat-broadcaster. The signals - source thus far unknown - are not thought to be connected to any Independence Day-style pre-invasion alien …

    Broadband 11 Oct 2007, 13:32

  • MS readies second-gen 65nm Xbox 360?

    'Jasper' due next year

    Microsoft will release updated versions of its Xbox 360, this time with even more 65nm chippery, from August 2008, the console's pundit-in-chief has claimed. The new version is codenamed 'Jasper' - actually, that's the name of the motherboard new models will be based upon - and is set to incorporate an incarnation of the …

    Games 11 Oct 2007, 13:43

  • Sony Ericsson profits fall on cheaper phones

    More units shipped though

    Mobile manufacturer Sony Ericsson's third quarter profit fell by 10 per cent despite shipping more units over the past year. The firm said on Thursday that profit declined from the €298m it clocked up for the third quarter of 2006 to €267m this year. Pre-tax profit fell 11 per cent to €384m from €433m in the year-ago quarter, …

    Financial News 11 Oct 2007, 13:46

  • MoD in £270m splurge on extra HQ computer terminals

    Heads into the 'Above Secret environment'

    The UK MoD has added a further 3,300 network terminals to its massive Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) - or DII(F) - project*. These new machines will be specifically intended for command of military operations from frontline headquarters nodes. Under DII(F) the MoD has a £2.3bn contract with a consortium of …

    Data Center 11 Oct 2007, 13:47

  • Beeb news website goes titsup

    The news is... there is no news

    The BBC news website was down for over an hour at lunchtime today due to an apparent technical glitch with its servers. A spokeswoman for the British broadcasting behemoth told El Reg that the Beeb had been "experiencing technical difficulties", and it hoped to bring the service back online as soon as possible. Anyone …

    Servers 11 Oct 2007, 13:55

  • iPod Classic to ring till loudly for Apple, analyst says

    Kerching!

    Apple's $349 160GB iPod Classic contains $190 worth of components, it has been claimed. While the remaining $159 isn't all profit, it still means the Mac maker does very nicely, thank you, out of every Classic it sells. The figures come from market watcher iSuppli, which regularly disassembles iPods to calculate how much they …

    Hardware 11 Oct 2007, 14:03

  • Britney's wares exposed online

    Forthcoming album escapes into cyberspace

    The release date of troubled chanteuse Britney Spears' forthcoming album has been moved forward two weeks after some of the tracks found their way into cyberspace, Reuters reports. Her label Jive Records confirmed today that the appropriately-titled Blackout will thrill the planet on 29 October (30 October in the US), ahead of …

    Bootnotes 11 Oct 2007, 14:41

  • Exploit Wednesday follows Patch Tuesday Word update

    Action adds to malicious reaction

    The trend for exploiting vulnerabilities around the same time as Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday update continues. Hackers have crafted a new Word exploit based on a memory corruption vulnerability addressed by Microsoft on Tuesday. The flaw was already exploited prior to the release of the fix, according to Microsoft. …

    Security 11 Oct 2007, 14:42

  • Judge rules Gore's film an inconvenient catalogue of errors

    No drowning polar bears on this planet, Al

    A UK judge has ruled that schools are allowed to show Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, but only if the film is accompanied by guidance highlighting the areas where the ex-vice president of America strays off the scientific terra firma, the BBC reports. Mr Justice Burton said teachers could show the film, but must highlight nine …

    Science 11 Oct 2007, 14:43

  • US trade body knocks up disk drive, PC vendors

    Disk patent case spins faster

    A quintet of disk drive and PC vendors are being investigated by the US International Trade Commission as part of a patent infringement case. The ITC said yesterday it had launched an investigation into Western Digital, Seagate Technology, Toshiba America Information Systems, HP and Dell. All five companies were named by the …

    The Channel 11 Oct 2007, 15:06

  • UK to get Samsung music phone next week

    Company begins SGH handset rollout

    Brits will next week get first dibs on one of Samsung’s latest music handsets. The company is launching three music phones across Europe over the coming weeks, starting with the SGH-F210 in the UK. Its two other music-focused phones, the SGH-i450 and SGH-F330, will eventually come to the UK, but Samsung told Register Hardware …

    Phones 11 Oct 2007, 16:15

  • Telly vision: future display technologies

    Feature Coming soon to a screen near you...

    Karl Ferdinand Braun could never have imagined how fiercely competitive and technologically advanced the global market for displaying still and moving images on a screen would become during the hundred or so years since he created the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). But in a world where CRT once reigned supreme, Liquid Crystal Display …

    Hardware 11 Oct 2007, 16:42

  • Student suspended in gun rights email row

    Shot by both sides

    A US University has suspended a student after he sent emails suggesting that incidents such as the Virginia Tech massacre might have been prevented if students were allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. Masters student Troy Scheffler was told he had to undergo compulsory "mental health evaluation" before being allowed …

    Law 11 Oct 2007, 18:03

  • US regional bank hacked

    Thwarted hack exposes score

    Hackers infiltrated the systems of Commerce Bank and accessed the records of 20 customers, the US regional bank said today. The attack by persons unknown was partially thwarted - but not before a database of 3,000 records was hacked into and the data of 20 exposed. Compromised data included personal information such as names, …

    Security 11 Oct 2007, 18:14

  • Suicide website creator arrested for murder

    Latin: sui caedere, to kill oneself — important distinction here

    Police in Japan arrested a man who ran an internet suicide help site for allegedly being a little too helpful. Kazunari Saito, a 33-year-old electrician, was taken into custody yesterday for allegedly giving Sayaka Nishizawa, 21, sleeping pills and afterwards suffocating her — all at the victim's previous request to die. Saito …

    Management 11 Oct 2007, 19:18

  • Dell pushes $9bn sales through the channel

    Pump up the volume

    For a mostly direct company, Dell has bloody big channel revenues too - $9bn a year and rising. That's what High Panjandrum Michael Dell told the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Florida this week. As a matter of course, computer dealers don't like their PC suppliers to sell direct to the public. For starters,they can't …

    The Channel 11 Oct 2007, 20:05

  • Logicalis wins big in Wales

    Broadband for the public sector

    Logicalis has won a £74m gig to build and run the public sector broadband network in Wales. The reseller says the seven-year deal is the biggest commercial contract it's won to date. Press release here. ®

    The Channel 11 Oct 2007, 20:09

  • Windows update brings down TV newscast

    Production system crashes just ahead of show

    A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania television station was forced to broadcast its noon newscast from its parking lot on Wednesday because this month's Windows update wasn't installed in time. The "major meltdown" occurred during a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate Channel 11's new facility, attended by executives from Cox …

    Applications 11 Oct 2007, 20:22

  • SysAdmin of the Year deadline draws near

    Honor thy troubleshooter

    Do you have a System Administrator who needs some loving? We've got a tip: Nominate him or her for SysAdmin of the Year. Perhaps you missed the chance on Sysadmin Day to send felicitous affection to your IT department — maybe that's why you're still running Windows ME. Fortunately, there's still an opportunity to make amends ( …

    Data Networking 11 Oct 2007, 20:43

  • Crudware pusher to pay $25,000 to settle charges

    Warning! Windows requires immediate attention

    A California man has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle charges he dished out misleading advertisements that duped computer users into buying unneeded software they were told would fix critical operating system errors. HoanVinh V. Nguyenphuoc is the owner of FixWinReg, which used a Windows feature known as Net Send to display …

    Security 11 Oct 2007, 22:14

  • Google, Intel and Sun save the world!

    Radio Reg Or something like that

    Welcome to Episode 8 of Semi-Coherent Computing - the savior edition. Yes, this week's show has Sun Microsystems software engineer Bryan Cantrill talk about the role that DTrace plays in saving servers and applications gone wrong. Cantrill explains some of the basics around how DTrace helps with system tuning. In addition, he …

    Semi-Coherent 11 Oct 2007, 22:33

  • Citrix adds OS provisioning to lineup

    Ardence technology digested

    Ten months after the Ardence acquisition, Citrix is ready to add the technology to its lineup. What was once Ardence's on-demand provisioning technology has become Citrix Provisioning Server. It's designed to stream datacenter and desktop operating systems and workloads to both virtual and physical machines from a central …

    Virtualization 11 Oct 2007, 23:07