2nd November 2007 Archive

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MyTravel's website woes

'Code release' cockup downs booking system

Thomas Cook sister company MyTravel has been hit by a system upgrade blunder which has knocked out a number of its group websites over the past few days. It would appear that MyTravel attempted to quietly roll out an update to its servers last weekend. The cheap package holiday firm sent an email to its customers on Monday …

Telecoms 2 Nov 00:01
Apple gives MacBooks some Santa Rosa loving

Refreshments for Pros, too

Without the usual tarantara, Apple has updated its MacBook laptops with faster hardware and some more upgrade options. The Macbook line will now ship with Intel's Santa Rosa chip set, sporting either a 2.0GHz or 2.2GHz Intel core 2 Duo processor and Intel GMA X3100 graphic processor. They also now include the option to upgrade …

Hardware 2 Nov 00:34
MySpace backs Google's anti-Facebook play

And Bebo too

Well, Google's OpenSocial initiative includes a big name after all. MySpace has embraced the OpenSocial APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), a means of building applications for all sorts of social networking sites that aren't Facebook. Oh, and Bebo has joined the mix as well. Earlier this week, when talk of OpenSocial …

Applications 2 Nov 01:21
VMware douses open source with waterfall of nonsense

Peace, love and lack of innovation

With groin stimulating IPOs comes great responsibility. Ah, let's be serious. With ludicrous IPOs, comes great nonsense. For example, our recent interview with VMware CEO Diane Greene took place in the company's new waterfall room. This magical room is just like your average conference room except it has a large glass plate at …

Virtualization 2 Nov 08:02
TheTrainline.com fixes web security derailment

Updated Points failure

This story was updated on February 11 to add that Trainline fixed this insecure credit card submission flaw a day after our initial report. The firm has been in touch to say that it has revamped its handling of security reports from customers, following a review of the incident, as reported here. TheTrainline.com, a UK website …

Security 2 Nov 08:02
Law Lords back protection for credit card purchases abroad

Status quo preserved, peace reigns

The House of Lords has supported the overturning of an earlier court decision that could have damaged confidence in ecommerce. The Lords ruled against Lloyds TSB, Tesco Personal Finance and American Express on Wednesday (Oct 31). Consumers will still be able to claim refunds on goods from credit card companies even if their …

Channel Register 2 Nov 08:02
Shills protest Paris Convention on IP

ICANN 2007 Los Angeles Why does commerce get second class trademark treatment?

"This is an open meeting, of course, but I just want everyone to know it's all off the record." Steven Metalitz, Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) Thanks, Steve. Since everything's off the record, what better way to give the public an idea of what really goes on in the emerald city of the internet than to offer an up …

Law 2 Nov 09:51
Oz Army eyes electric vibro vest to replace batteries

To 'harvest' power Matrix style from wobbling body parts

The Australian army is looking to design a miraculous vest which generates electricity by "harvesting" the energy from its wearers' "body vibrations". The remarkable vest, dubbed Flexible Integrated Energy Device (FIED), is intended to reduce the burgeoning burden of batteries that modern soldiers must carry to power their …

Science 2 Nov 10:08
Seagate's US customers get refund

When is a Gig not a Gig?

Any punters who bought a Seagate hard drive in the US between 22 March 2001 and 26 September 2007 could be entitled to a five per cent discount on future Seagate products or free backup software. The settlement is the result of a US class action suit. The case alleges that Seagate sold drives with seven per cent less storage …

Storage 2 Nov 10:11
MiFID: Financial borders fall but small firms must beware

Minnows won't benefit much

Pan-European regulation of large sections of the financial services sector comes into force today, but the benefits of the system will largely pass smaller firms by, according to the British Banking Association (BBA). The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is a European Union directive aimed at allowing …

Small Biz 2 Nov 10:15
Manhunt 2 hacked open to reveal 'removed' gore

Hot Coffee-like controversy brewing?

When Rockstar Studios tweaked controversial video game Manhunt 2 to make it suitable for a US Mature (M) rating rather than Adults Only (AO), it didn't actually remove the offending material, it has emerged. And now hackers have worked out how to expose the supposed excisions. Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive last night …

Reg Hardware 2 Nov 10:44
Insight profit down nearly half in Q3

Blames pesky staff wages for $$$ dent

US reseller Insight Enterprises said yesterday that profit dropped by 46 per cent in the third quarter. The giant computer distie saw earnings fall to $9.1m, or 18 cents per share, from $17.2m, or 35 cents per share in the same period a year ago. Revenue was up 29 per cent to $1.11bn for the three months ended 30 September …

Channel Register 2 Nov 10:47
Big Blue gets into greenwash

Data centres to get green certificates

IBM, as part of its environmental initiative dubbed "Big Green Innovations", will offer energy efficient data centres a certificate of greeness - if they can prove they have reduced power consumption. Big Blue is partnering with Neuwing Energy to offer data centres a third-party approved certificate to show they have reduced …

Servers 2 Nov 10:48
Canadian firm sues 22 firms over Wi-Fi patents

J'accuse... everyone

A Canadian IP firm has accused 22 major IT companies of infringing its Wi-Fi and DSL patents and slapped them with a patent infringement suit. Ottawa-based Wi-LAN Inc accuses the firms of infringing its U.S. patent nos. 5,282,222, RE37,802 and 5,956,323, which it says relate to "Wi-Fi and to power consumption in DSL products …

Data Networking 2 Nov 11:12
Asus' Eee PC laptop so small, buyers sent boxes of five

Shipping blunder

We know that Asus' Eee PC sub-sub-notebook is popular with hardware fans and Linux lovers alike, but does US supplier Newegg really have to send out five units for every one ordered? A number of buyers claimed to have received a handful of the handhelds when they only asked for a single machine. Eee User forum poster …

Reg Hardware 2 Nov 11:13
Minor Firefox update addresses stability glitches

Nothing to see here, please move along

Mozilla pushed out a minor update for Firefox on Thursday that fixes a number of stability and performance glitches. Firefox version 2.0.0.9 fixes problems introduced with version 2.0.0.8, which was released two weeks ago on 18 October, but nothing flagged as security related. The 2.0.0.9 update addresses a number of niggling …

Applications 2 Nov 11:13
Satanic car key traps 12 motorists in car park of horror

Weeping drivers rescued by ~~exorcist~~ Ofcom

Stranded motorists in Kent were forced to turn to Ofcom after a rogue car's central locking system took possession of other vehicles in the same Gravesend car park. More than 12 cars at the Parrock Street car park in the comfortable yet earthy Medway town decided not to open or start on Tuesday, the Beeb reports. Apparently …

Bootnotes 2 Nov 11:31
Website battles to free Oz barmaid's jubs

Net exposure for Luana De Favari

Those among you who believe that Oz barmaids should have the right, if not the legal obligation, to bare their chesticles and use them to crush beer cans, are directed to campaigning website Aussie Barmaid. The site is a tribute to Western Australia's Luana De Favari, who was famously fined A$1,000 for just such a crowd- …

Bootnotes 2 Nov 11:55
BOFH: Budget cuts

Episode 37 But how will we buy beer?

Things are dire in Mission Control. Our plans for company IT domination have backfired on us like a baked bean vindaloo with a boiled cabbage chaser followed by a double helping of pickled onion ice-cream. And 10 pints of fizzy lager... "So you're saying that we have no operating budget?" I ask. "None," the head Beancounter …

BOFH 2 Nov 12:02
Friends Reunited considers dropping pay walls

Stalking is a right, not a privilege

Proto-social network Friends Reunited looks set to capitulate in its battle to make web users pay for services. Owner ITV is considering dropping some subscription fees in an attempt to stop defections to Facebook, Bebo, and other free sites. Friends Reunited currently charges £7.50 every six months for the ability to contact …

Applications 2 Nov 12:03
Better plate than never: sign up now for the gold iPhone

Diamond-encrusted version coming too

Some folk accuse iPhone owners of possessing far more money than sense, but if you've got it, flaunt it, I always say. And if you really want to show off how considerably richer you are than the rest of us, what better than a gold-plated Apple handset? That's what UK-based specialist phone fixer Amosu is now offering. A …

Reg Hardware 2 Nov 12:05
Demon satnav imprisons plucky trucky in pasty hell

Yokels fed trapped driver of 'wedged' truck local diet

This week's hilarious satnav tomfoolery story comes from Ivybridge in Devon, where comical foreign person Yuro Odehnal was "sent up a narrow country lane by his satnav" last weekend - almost to his doom. The Prague-based lorry driver, who wanted only to move a load of TVs, soon found his 40-ton articulated truck "wedged" …

Bootnotes 2 Nov 12:14
Microsoft fires cannon at counterfeiters

Walk the plank, arr

In its latest attempts to rid pirates from its shores, Microsoft has set up a new* website to help its customers spot dodgy software. Redmond also confirmed on Wednesday that it had filed 20 lawsuits in the US against alleged distributors of counterfeit copies of Windows XP and Office 2003. It's a two-pronged attack from …

Channel Register 2 Nov 12:46
Hackers field malware from fake US election sites

The Trojan Candidate

Hackers have taken advantage of mounting interest in next year's US presidential elections to create fake websites that serve up exploits. Anti-spyware firm Webroot said that it has tracked hundreds of fake sites that lure visitors into downloading malicious files. Surfers may encounter these fraudulent websites after …

Security 2 Nov 12:53
Cops expose cross-dressing Catholic school principal

Misdemeanor prostitution citation for leather-clad Kentucky educator

A Kentucky Catholic school principal is on "personal leave" from his post after being discovered by cops sitting in his car "wearing an all-black, leather, woman's outfit, fishnet stockings and women's black plastic breasts" in a Louisville neighbourhood "known for prostitution and narcotics". Paul A Schum, 50, was found by …

Bootnotes 2 Nov 12:59
Oz motorist reacts rather testily to small todger slur

Road rage attack provoked by 'little pinkie' gesture

An Oz motorist who reacted to a woman's suggestion that he was somewhat lacking in the trouser department by throwing a bottle at her was fined A$400 for his trouble, news.com.au reports. The victim of Simon Jardak's road rage had provoked him by making the "little pinkie" gesture championed by NSW Roads and Traffic Authority' …

Bootnotes 2 Nov 13:02
Sony PS3 narrows gap with Nintendo Wii

Xbox 360 in the ascendant as others fall

The PlayStation 3 continued to narrow the sales advantage enjoyed by Nintendo's Wii in Japan last month, a local games magazine publisher has claimed. However, both companies experienced much lower sales than they have in recent months. During October, Nintendo sold 110,415 Wiis, while Sony shipped 47,183 PS3s, publisher …

Reg Hardware 2 Nov 13:03
Immigration minister fined for car mobe chat outrage

HELLO! I'M IN THE CAR!

Immigration minister Liam Byrne has been fined for using his mobile phone while driving. Byrne was fined £100 and had three points put on his licence, bringing his total to six. He must also pay £35 in costs. The MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill pleaded guilty by letter and said he was taking an important call on a deportation …

Mobile 2 Nov 13:06
Parallel ATA version confusion

Q&A

The new Toshiba 2.5in hard drives - eg. the MK2049GSY - coming out shortly will have an ATA 8 interface. Can I fit this into my Toshiba Satellite P200-144, which has an ATA 7 interface?

Reg Hardware 2 Nov 13:18
Mac users get a new OS, and a Trojan for good measure

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

Before we begin with the round up of this week's news, can we politely direct your attention to the eSymposium we're hosting? It will take you on a journey from the desktop to the data centre, and is to be hosted by our lovely (and very clean shaven) US editor Ashlee Vance. You might like to sign up. Elsewhere, news happened …

Business 2 Nov 13:46
Navman S30 satnav

Review Cheerful as well as cheap

With everyone from Alpine to Via Michelin offering standalone satellite navigation kit, should you bother with a competitively-priced, lower-end offering from an established brand name? We hit the streets with the entry-level Navman S30 to find out. The S30 is at the very bottom of Navman's new S series and comes in at an …

Reg Hardware 2 Nov 13:55
Teflon top cop evades justice, responsibility

Comment Menezes Met trial unsatisfactory on all counts

So the verdict's in. No one police officer - nor any identifiably-small group of police - was to blame for the mistaken shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005. Rather, the entire 30,000-strong Metropolitan force have all been found guilty - and, rather comically, "fined" £175k. Needless to say, London plods won't be …

Law 2 Nov 14:31
VC legend Perkins regrets HP debacle and taunting the poor

Lamentation bonus pack ships with new book

Mr Big Yacht Tom Perkins had decided that um, gee, well, er, maybe he didn't handle the whole HP spy scandal thing as well as he could have. The famed venture capitalist will apparently reveal his regret during an upcoming interview with the octogenarian-based newscast 60 Minutes. In some teaser material for the Sunday show, …

Financial News 2 Nov 15:31
CA reaps benefits of reaping employees

Triple bubble

Hodge-podge management software omnicorp CA is making hay after its massive restructure last year. It has reported Q2 profits three times higher than a year ago when it had just started firing 1,700 staff. Revenues for the three months to 30 September were up a relatively meagre eight per cent to $1.06bn. The cost-cutting …

Financial News 2 Nov 15:39
Yahoo! says! sorry! to! Senate!

For being economical with the actualite

Yahoo! is apologising to the Senate committee for misleading it about what the internet firm knew about its cooperation with China's pursuit of dissidents. Michael Callahan, a Yahoo! VP, told the committee the firm had no idea why the Chinese government was investigating journalist Shi Tao. But according to today's Wall Street …

Law 2 Nov 15:42
Scepticism over cyber-jihad rumours

al-Qaeda (still) can't hack

Islamist hackers are reportedly making preparations to launch a cyber-jihad against Israeli and Western websites beginning on 11 November. Experts are split over whether to take the attacks seriously or not. Rumours of the putative attack first surfaced in Israeli intelligence magazine DEBKAfile earlier this week. It reported …

Crime 2 Nov 15:56
Sony said to have sub-$100 PS2 in the pipeline

Cheaper, smaller

Sony's saying nothing, but online reports suggests the consumer electronics giant is readying a further incarnation of the PS2 that's set to ship in the States next year for under $100. Sony's PS2: last redesigned in 2004 According to a report published by games industry trade paper MCV, the third-generation PS2 will be more …

Reg Hardware 2 Nov 16:14
African human-powered lighting plan announced

People. Is there anything they can't do?

The BBC reports that the Freeplay Foundation - the organisation which distributes wind-up radios to Africans unable to obtain/afford batteries or mains power - is looking to offer wind-up home lighting solutions, too. According to World Bank estimates, half a billion sub-Saharan Africans have no access to grid electricity. …

Physics 2 Nov 16:35
Confused BBC tech chief: Only 600 Linux users visit our website

'Umm... or it could be 97,600'

The BBC's technology boss Ashley Highfield has provoked consternation in the UK's open source community by claiming that only a few hundred of the corporation's 17.1 million website visitors use Linux. In an interview with web design mag .net, Highfield hit back against claims the BBC is too cosy with Microsoft. He said: "We …

Software 2 Nov 16:43
Beer better than water: Official

Hell no, H₂O

Almost exactly a month after we learnt that drinking beer makes you clever, a Spanish boffin has proved that the golden grog is also better at rehydrating the human body after excercise. Manuel J Castillo Garzón, Professor of Human Physiology from Spain's University of Granada, got a bunch of students to run around in …

Biology 2 Nov 16:51
Reality distortion for Java on Leopard?

Not cool, Steve

By releasing the latest version of Mac OS/X without support for Java 6, Apple has managed to attain unpopularity and court controversy. When Mac OS/X version 10.5 - or Leopard - was unleashed this week, many expected it would come with Java 6 support - not least because Apple as good as said it would. But when the code …

Software 2 Nov 17:10
X-Factor singer withdraws over 'happy slapping' vid

Hit me baby one more time

X-Factor finalist Emily Nakanda has withdrawn from the hit show after footage emerged of her attacking another girl in a "happy slapping" video. Mobile phone footage showed 15-year-old Emily in school uniform holding her victim in a headlock and pulling her hair.The Sun reports that she said: "If it rips out I'm gonna get …

Music and Media 2 Nov 17:11
Is MySQL's Google's Trojan Horse for world domination?

Analysis Er, probably not. At least that's what IBM, HP and Sun hope

Someone once said something about being careful what you wish for. This is more or less how we're feeling about Google's agreement to contribute code to database maker MySQL. As a close open source software watcher, we've been miffed by Google's interactions with the so-called community. Yeah, Google has its nerdtopia Summer …

Servers 2 Nov 18:28
Security site knocks spots off Mac OS X Leopard firewall

Even when you turn it on it's no good

It's been a rocky week for security-conscious Mac fans. A rare appearance of a Trojan targeting Mac fans made it out onto the net and the release of Apple's much vaunted Leopard operating system was marred by security concerns about its firewall. Reports of Leopard installs hanging at boot, behaviour compared by some to the …

Security 2 Nov 19:24
SaveTheInterneters to save the internet from Comcast

'No more BitTorrent busting'

Members of the SaveTheInternet.com Coalition hope to save the internet from Comcast. Joining forces with a few internet-savvy legal scholars, several of the coalition's spunky public advocates have formally asked the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prevent America's second largest ISP from secretly throttling peer …

Telecoms 2 Nov 19:28
Task force aims to improve US cybersecurity

'This is not a tech focus; it is a Washington focus'

A blue-ribbon panel of three dozen security experts hopes to craft a strategy to improve the United States' cybersecurity by the time the next president takes office, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the task force's Congressional sponsors, announced on Tuesday. The bipartisan Commission on Cyber …

Security 2 Nov 21:23
Java and .NET to drive double-digit wage growth

Talk turkey

Open source and scripting technologies may be capturing the headlines lately, but Java and Microsoft language skills still put developers top in salary talks with bosses. Next year, application developers and senior web developers skilled in Java, Java Enterprise Edition and Microsoft's C# and VisualBasic.NET look likely to …

Developer 2 Nov 21:30
Masked thieves storm into Chicago colocation (again!)

Think your data's secure. What about your data center?

The recent armed robbery of a Chicago-based co-location facility has customers hopping mad after learning it was at least the fourth forced intrusion in two years. They want to know how C I Host, an operator that vaunts the security of its data centers, could allow the same one to be penetrated so many times. "I can't believe …

Crime 2 Nov 21:38
ICANN annoints Vint Cerf's successor

ICANN 2007 Los Angeles ICANN icon moves on to intergalactic internet

The traditional ICANN board meeting that closes out the week-plus worth of meetings, public forums, and whatnot that constitute ICANN's thrice-yearly geek-fest brought in a new chairman today to replace departing internet legend Vint Cerf. The selection of Peter Dengate Thrush to replace Cerf overshadowed other important board …

Telecoms 2 Nov 22:46
Sun's 'Project Copy Linux' hits milestone

Download time

Sun Microsystems is claiming its first major milestone in Project Indiana, with the release of an OpenSolaris developer preview binary distribution. The OpenSolaris Developer Preview features the core operating system, Gnome desktop and graphical installer contained on a Slim Install Live CD for x86. The SPARC edition is still …

Software 2 Nov 23:49