15th October 2007 Archive

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Issue-tracking systems for Agile development

On the right Trac

I have never felt comfortable using Microsoft’s Project Server despite using it for many software projects. I don't think Project Server is suited for software development, but is more a general purpose project management tool. Software projects are not like building an apartment or making a road. Agile development, in …

Software 15 Oct 2007, 09:02
Sony talks up PS3 update

Bid to boost Blu-ray firmware interactivity

A Sony executive has left PS3 fans all a-quiver after promising to release a firmware update "soon" that will improve the console’s support for Blu-ray Disc interactivity features. Don Eklund, VP of advanced technologies at Sony, reportedly made the promise at the recent HDTV DisplaySearch conference in California. …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 09:11
SWIFT to stop processing EU banking data in the US

But not until 2009

Payments processing body SWIFT will stop processing European banking transactions in the US in 2009. It is planning a restructuring of its network and the building of a new operations centre in Switzerland. SWIFT has been heavily criticised for allowing US authorities access to records of banking transactions involving …

Government 15 Oct 2007, 09:44
Intel shows off working quad-core mobile CPU

'Penryn' part, due this time next year

Intel has demo'd the 45nm quad-core mobile processor it's planning to release next year. The chip maker claimed it was on track to bring the part to market in H2 2008 - in Q3, to be precise, though that's not a timeframe Intel has yet made public. The prototype chip - said to have rolled out of one of the chip giant's fabs …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 09:54
Arnie terminates phthalates in kids' toys

California ban on suspect chemicals

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has authorised a ban on toys and child products containing "more than a trace amount" of plastic-softening phthalates, AP reports. The proscription, which comes into force at the start of 2009, marks California as the first state to move against phthalates which are "widely used in baby …

Law 15 Oct 2007, 10:02
Mobiles give you brain cancer?

Column Take a message, I'm on the other line

Call me sensitive if you must, but when someone starts talking about wireless and keeps using the word "radiation" I tend to suspect an agenda. So this week when Occupational Environmental Medicine used headlines such as "Using mobile phones for more than 10 years doubles risk of brain cancer", my first respose was to search …

Mobile 15 Oct 2007, 10:06
Hitachi halves hard drive head size

Paves way for 4TB desktop drives, apparently

Hitachi has developed a hard drive read/write head that's half the size of the units found in today's top-of-the-line HDDs - a crucial step, it claimed, to delivering a 4TB desktop drive, albeit not until 2009 at the earliest. Hitachi's new head may be tiny - 30-50nm in size, one two-thousandth of the thickness of a human …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 10:21
Google updates desktop for Linux

Beta-tastic launch

Google has updated its desktop for fanboys* Linux with the beta launch of version 1.1. Now you can search and launch applications, and search within Microsoft Office documents. The team at Google has also upgraded the image search so better quality thumbnails are returned and more image formats are supported. Software …

Applications 15 Oct 2007, 10:36
Ian McKellen keen to reprise Gandalf

Likely to don beard and silly hat for The Hobbit

Sexagenarian Brit thespo Sir Ian McKellen has expressed hopes that he will reprise his role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit, saying he'd be "very pleased" to get the hat and beard out of mothballs. McKellen, 68, told Reuters: "If I am still functioning and working well, it is very likely I would be asked to …

Entertainment 15 Oct 2007, 10:39
Airbus delivers first A380

Singapore Airlines takes the controls

Airbus this morning delivered its first A380 to Singapore Airlines ahead of the aircraft's maiden commercial flight on 25 October. The long-awaited hand over took place at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse. Airbus president and CEO Tom Enders told the 500-odd people at today's ceremony: "This is a landmark day for all …

Science 15 Oct 2007, 10:41
Japanese diggers unearth dino skull

First of its kind

A dinosaur skull has been unearthed in Japan. The 85-million year-old fossil is one of the oldest finds of its kind in the country, per Reuters. The skull was found in southwestern Japan back in 2004, on a mountain in the town of Mifune. An spokesperson for the Mifune dinosaur museum said that the skull belonged to a herbivore …

Biology 15 Oct 2007, 10:45
US smut spam duo jailed for five years apiece

Take them down

A pair of US men were each jailed for more than five years on Friday for their part in a long-running pornographic spam business that racked up revenues of more than $1m. Jeffrey A Kilbride, 41, of Venice, California, and James R Schaffer, 41, of Paradise Valley, Arizona, were jailed for 72 months and 63 months respectively. …

Spam 15 Oct 2007, 11:01
Nokia releases 8GB N95 smartphone

Apple who?

The 8GB version of Nokia's N95 3G phone - sorry, "multimedia computer" - has begun making its way out of the Finnish phone giant's factories and onto store shelves, the company claimed today. Nokia's N95 8GB: back in black The new model represents not only the addition of four more gigabytes of storage to the 'Swiss Army …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 11:09
LucasArts to wield Wii Light Sabre in UK next week

Gaming festival to feature peripheral

British fans of Nintendo Wii and Star Wars will get a first glimpse of the Wii Remote as a Light Sabre at a gaming festival being held later this month. Lego Star Wars: kick against the bricks LucasArts will be exhibiting the Wii Remote as a Light Sabre alongside its forthcoming Wii title Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 11:17
How can I widen my wireless network?

Q&A

Like many Reg Hardware readers, I have an 802.11g Wi-Fi network at home. But there are places where it just doesn't reach. Has anyone got a good suggestion as to what I can do about it? I had considered putting in some Powerline Ethernet mains-connected network adaptors, but I don't want to be limited to a fixed place for …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 11:30
UK biz groups bemoan CGT reform

Oh Darling, how could you?

British businesses have joined forces in an attempt to convince the government to rethink its decision to reform capital gains tax (CGT). In his first Pre-Budget Report (PBR) last week, chancellor Alistair Darling said he would dump taper relief on CGT replacing it with a single 18 per cent tax rate from April next year. But …

Small Biz 15 Oct 2007, 11:31
Red Arrows Olympic 'ban' causes online furore

'Too British' to grace London's skies

On 15 September, UK redtop The Sun caused a bit of a rumpus by announcing that display team the Red Arrows had been banned from "performing at the 2012 London Olympics as they are too BRITISH" (tabloid outrage caps, nothing to do with us). The "barmy organisers" apparently claimed the RAF's finest "might offend other nations …

Bootnotes 15 Oct 2007, 11:46
Microsoft claims more pirate scalps

Resellers and market traders nabbed

Microsoft's "Keep IT Real" campaign targeting resellers of illegally copied software has claimed several more scalps. Nine staff at Wendy Fair Markets Ltd, which operated Bovingdon Market in Hertfordshire, have been convicted of distributing unauthorised goods following several years of investigation by Trading Standards. …

Channel Register 15 Oct 2007, 12:09
Rock Xtreme X770-T7800 notebook

Review Could it be a contender?

Rock has a reputation for punching out high-performance laptops, and it's latest line, the flagship 17in desktop-replacment X770 series, has a spec that suggests it's no slouch either. The line's leader, the X770-T7800, has at its heart an Intel Core 2 Duo T7800. Currently the fastest mobile Core 2 Duo processor, the T7800 is …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 12:17
Led Zeppelin catalogue goes digital

Available for download next month

Veteran rock outfit Led Zeppelin has announced it'll make its catalogue available on 13 November from "all online music retailers", Reuters reports. Guitarist Jimmy Page said in a statement: "We are pleased that the complete Led Zeppelin catalogue will now be available digitally. The addition of the digital option will better …

Music and Media 15 Oct 2007, 13:43
AI egghead: Human-robot humping, marriage by 2050

No different from same-sex, or inter-racial nuptials

Among university roboticists, the scenario of humans having sex with robots is normally seen as inevitable. Further support for this (the assessment of robotics boffins' worldview, not the likelihood of mechanised jigjig going mainstream) appeared last week, as a PhD thesis on the subject was defended at Maastricht University …

Science 15 Oct 2007, 13:55
Oscar Wilde voted top Brit wit

'Either those curtains go or I do'

Oscar Wilde has secured top spot in a poll to discover Britain's top wit - pipping Spike Milligan into an honourable second place. Wilde saw off tough competition from a field which also included Winston Churchill, Jeremy Clarkson, Brian Clough, and Stephen Fry in the top 10 of the Dave poll. Dave is, in case you're wondering …

Entertainment 15 Oct 2007, 14:00
MIT boffins plan for asteroidal doom

One in 45k is still a chance...

Researchers at MIT say they know what the near-Earth asteroid Apophis is made of, information that could be vital if we need to divert or pulverise the space-rock in 2036. By analysing its spectrum and comparing it with meteorites that have already landed on Earth, the team has "nailed" its composition, says Richard Binzel, …

Space 15 Oct 2007, 14:20
Intel demos notebook chiller

Company dips toe into laptop cooling

Intel has revealed details of technologies it’s developing to help reduce notebooks’ internal temperatures and make them resistant to accidental spillages. Intel Mobility Group VP Mooly Eden demo'd the new techniques at Intel Developer Forum in Taipei today. He showed off a notebook stand-cum-docking station co-developed with …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 14:40
MS keeps mum on 'Go Play' Xbox 360 Arcade edition

Core on its way out?

Microsoft has yet to confirm the existence of a new basic Xbox 360 model, the Arcade edition, despite pictures of the model’s packaging appearing online. The picture, hosted by the ShackNews site, is believed to have been taken inside a US gaming store, where it was priced at $280 (£140/€165) and sat in between a top of the …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 14:55
Bell Micro issues security training alert to channel

Urges resellers to climb on board

IT distie Bell Micro has kicked off a new security training scheme for its channel partners. The Security Sales Academy will take place at its Chessington World of Adventures site and will be punted to small to medium sized (SMB) and enterprise businesses in an attempt at raising the G-force skill level among sales staff. …

Channel Register 15 Oct 2007, 15:00
D-Link to bring DivX onto your HD TV

DivX has teamed up with D-Link to incorporate its DivX Connected HD digital media platform onto the Wi-Fi firm's DSM-330 network box, giving users access to PC-based DivX content via their TV. D-Link's DSM-330: now with DivX Movies, pictures and music can be streamed over a wired Ethernet connection or over 802.11g Wi-Fi, …

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 15:06
Anti-fraud site turfed offline after Joe Job attack

Fasthosts falls for phisherman's ruse

Cybercriminals are attempting to tarnish the reputation of a website designed to fight online money transfer frauds and other scams. UK hosts Fasthosts unwittingly played into their hands by temporarily suspending Bobbear.co.uk over the weekend in response to fraudulent emails. UK-based website Bobbear.co.uk, which warns the …

Crime 15 Oct 2007, 15:27
HPA outlines plans to measure Wi-Fi exposure

No children will be harmed in this experiment

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is to spend £250,000 on a two year research project to quantify everyday exposure to electromagnetic fields from Wi-Fi. The agency reckons this will give it some ammunition to reassure people that their kids are safe if their school chooses to use a wireless internet connection. The …

Data Networking 15 Oct 2007, 15:29
Road pricing 'back-burnered' by Brown gov't

As Mayor Ken eyes GPS governor kit

Blighty's dark Orwellian future may have been put on hold, as news breaks that the Brown government has abandoned road-pricing plans in their current various forms. The city government of London, meanwhile, under the direction of roguish cheeky-chappie Mayor Ken Livingstone, continues to charge ahead with technology-based …

Government 15 Oct 2007, 15:31
Convert LPs to CDs... without a USB turntable?

Q&A

I have a hi-fi system and I want to transfer my vinyl LPs to CD. I could buy an Ion USB turntable, of course - but could I use my existing turntable somehow?

reghardware 15 Oct 2007, 15:55
EU watchdogs aim for broadband equality

Life in the slow lane

EU competition regulators are preparing new rules that will aim to rein in the incumbent operators it says are stymying internet uptake and creating a two-speed Europe. In a statement, commissioner Viviane Reding said an unacceptable gap had developed between highly competitive broadband markets like the UK and those in newer …

Telecoms 15 Oct 2007, 16:23
Moto buys into UIQ

At last

Motorola has taken a 50 per cent stake in UIQ, the phone user interface company spun out of Symbian last year. Moto takes a 50 per stake with Sony Ericsson, which took UIQ off Symbian's hands last year, the other half. "The intention is not to run it as a 50-50 joint venture," said outbound Sony Ericsson boss Miles Flint today …

Mobile 15 Oct 2007, 16:25
3's Skype phone to hit the pre-Christmas rush

Mobile internet push (again)

3's widely-trailed collaboration with Skype will be a new handset that will launch in the run-up to Christmas, sources say. The operator already offers access to free Skype calling through an application for its X-Series phones. However, the new product will see much tighter integration with the eBay-owned VoIP software. The …

Mobile 15 Oct 2007, 16:43
Security flap as Finnish password hashes posted online

Login looting not unlikely

Hacking pranksters have caused a rumpus in Finland by posting the account and login details of thousands online. The information - usernames, email addresses, some passwords and many more uncracked password hashes of almost 79,000 user accounts - are largely from different Finnish web forums. By itself that's bad enough, but …

Crime 15 Oct 2007, 16:51
Eclipse releases RAP 1.0 Ajax toolkit

It's a RAP

The Eclipse Foundation says building rich internet applications (RIA) just got easier with the release today of its much-anticipated Rich Ajax Platform (RAP 1.0) toolkit. The toolkit enables developers to build RIAs using a combination of Java, Ajax and the OSGi standard within the Eclipse framework. Specifically, RAP 1.0 …

Developer 15 Oct 2007, 17:16
EMC NetWorker adds de-dupe and CDP management

SNW Avamar and RecoverPoint find a daddy

EMC is teaching NetWorker, its long-in-tooth flagship backup and recovery application some new tricks in time for Storage Networking World in Texas. The company is integrating de-duplication and continuous data protection (CDP) technology into the software via the new kids on EMC's lineup, Avamar and RecoverPoint software. …

Storage 15 Oct 2007, 18:47
AOL axes another 2,000 jobs

That's 20 per cent of the company

America Online is slashing another 2,000 jobs worldwide - about 20 per cent of its workforce - as it continues to morph from online service provider to a company hoping to make its money from web sites you can advertise on. The cuts were announced via an internal memo from CEO Randy Falco, The Associated Press reports. "This …

Financial News 15 Oct 2007, 19:23
Calling the PHP cowboys in from the range

Agile is 'perfect for PHP programmers'

Now that PHP is taking that big step from popular webhead scripter to serious enterprise tech, PHP coders need to add a new word to their vocabularies: methodology. Of course, there’s no quicker way to send cowboy coders stampeding for the hills than to say that word. (“Process” would do it, too, and there would be screaming.) …

Developer 15 Oct 2007, 19:54
The balkanization of Storm Worm botnets

New hope in blocking prolific pest

Creators of the Storm Worm Trojan have introduced a change to their malware that could help administrators trying to fortify their ISPs and networks against the prolific pest. PCs infected by Storm in the past week or so use a 40-byte key to encrypt traffic sent through Overnet, a peer-to-peer protocol that helps individual …

Security 15 Oct 2007, 20:04
International manhunt tracks pedophile suspect to Thailand

Unscrambled pics yield more than 350 tips

Police who unmasked a suspected pedophile and posted his picture online have identified the man and say he is at large somewhere in Thailand thanks to an international campaign that yielded tips from more than 350 people. A photo taken by Thai immigration authorities The man, whom Interpol declined to publicly identify for " …

Crime 15 Oct 2007, 22:55
Supremes ignore appeal from Microsoft and Best Buy in gangsta case

Arm 'thermonuclear device'

The US Supreme Court has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses Microsoft and Best Buy of behaving like gangsters. No, this isn't the case where the Best Buy lawyer admitted to cooking court documents. But you're close. There are two suits that accuse Microsoft and Best Buy of behaving like gangsters - one in federal court …

Channel Register 15 Oct 2007, 23:28
Brocade ships 8 Gbit/s blades to OEMs

SNW Adds McDataness to 48000 Director

Several storage vendors plan to dive into 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel gear in 2008, but it looks like Brocade will be first in the pool. The company announced that 8 Gbit/s blades for its 48000 Director have already shipped to OEMs for evaluation and will be available early next year. Brocade revealed the move today at Storage …

Storage 15 Oct 2007, 23:43