20th November 2007 Archive

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Cox pulls a Comcast with eDonkey

Remove tumor. Bust ISP

Comcast isn't the only American ISP throttling peer-to-peer file sharing traffic. Cox Communications is pulling exactly the same trick. According to Robb Topolski - the networking guru who first revealed that Comcast was busting BitTorrents back in May - Cox is using some sort of network hardware tool to sever connections on …

Telecoms 20 Nov 00:09
Isilon fattens clustered NAS with 1TB disks

Embiggen your back-end

Scientifically speaking, storage vendor Isilon systems is hugifying its clustered NAS lineup. The storage firm is expanding its modular storage pool family by fitting 1TB drives into a new pair of nodes, boasting 250TB max capacity in a single rack. The new clustered NAS offerings are the IQ 12000, a performance-oriented system …

Storage 20 Nov 00:43
Reg Dev wants your Big Three for 07 and 08

Was it good for you?

What made 2007 so quintessentially... 2007? Reg Dev wants to hear from you about the news, events and software that defined the year. Also, we'd like to know what you'd like to see happen during the coming year, and - this being the IT industry - what you think will really happen. Was it the crushing levels of hype - or the …

Applications 20 Nov 00:54
Xajax and PHP: JavaScript without the pain

Hands on Automatic for the people

When it comes to Web 2.0, PHP’s seen it all before. Birthed before the last great internet boom, PHP has matured and is now one of a triumvirate of languages synonymous with today’s craze for building web sites and online services with Linux and MySQL. While it shares LAMP honors with Perl and Python, though, PHP has become the …

Software 20 Nov 03:43
Email security: Where are we @?

Reg Guide It's trouble, but we love it anyway

Email is no longer an option in the business environment. Like many technologies that have grown by individual demand rather than organisational imposition, email crept up on corporations by stealth, becoming an essential tool before anyone cared to notice. Which is a shame, because it's pretty rubbish really - in security …

Security 20 Nov 07:02
GPGPUs and FPGAs are now fully implanted in our brains

SC07 The server booster bonanza takes hold

One topic - even more so than cheap shrimp - dominated this year's Supercomputing conference in Reno: Accelerators. The server and chip industries have felt the rise of the accelerator coming for some time. Last year's conference, for example, had the hardware heads pitted against the coders. The software set wondered if …

Servers 20 Nov 08:07
Drink rats' milk, suggests battling Heather Mills

Radical planet-hugging plan

Sir Paul McCartney’s ex Heather "Mucca" Mills yesterday used the launch of a planet-hugging billboard campaign to suggest that drinking rats' milk might save our beloved Earth from livestock-provoked apocalypse - much to the derision of UK tabloid The Sun. Mills was at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park to promote Vegetarians …

Biology 20 Nov 10:07
Vodafone blocks iPhone in Germany

It's a 'pretty poor experience', so you can't have it

Vodafone has won an injunction preventing T-Mobile from selling the iPhone in Germany. T-Mobile is Apple's exclusive carrier partner in Europe's biggest market. The lawsuit challenges T-Mobile's exclusivity arrangement with Apple. There's some confusion about the extent of the injunction - with Dow Jones reporting a total ban …

Mobile 20 Nov 10:08
Pressure group: perverts will use tech to track your kids

'We don't know for certain we shouldn't get worried'

A pressure group has warned of worsening threats to children's rights in the UK from biometric and tracking technologies. ARCH, Action on Rights for Children, is a not-for-profit organisation run by a group of concerned citizens, including a Professor of Childhood Studies and the borough citizenship coordinator for Tower …

ID 20 Nov 10:13
Having a migraine? Blame your brain

Study finds structural differences

People who suffer from migraines have differently structured brains. According to new research, those who suffer from the severe headaches (often accompanied by nausea and "aura" - patterns of lights dancing before the eyes) have a thickening in the region of the brain that processes sensory information. A study of 24 …

Biology 20 Nov 10:16
Small print is ignored and needs a rethink, govt study says

Consumers' eyes glaze over at 'turgid and confusing' info

Information requirements are an irritant for business and consumers routinely ignore the small print overload because it is turgid and confusing, according to a Government study. A new report calls for a rethink by policy-makers and businesses. Consumers do make buying decisions they are happy with, according to the …

Business 20 Nov 10:59
Foreign Office on target for £120m efficiency savings

Despite IT project delays

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has insisted that it is on course to deliver on its £120m efficiency savings target by the end of 2007-08. The declaration comes in spite of delays to its Future Firecrest desktop IT project, which will not be rolled out until early next year. In a review of its annual report for 2006- …

Public Sector 20 Nov 11:00
Facebook faces UK data probe

Why can't we delete accounts?

Facebook is facing investigation by UK data protection watchdogs after a complaint from a British user who tried, and failed, to delete his account. Facebook accounts can be "deactivated" but not actually deleted. Your profile remains in the Facebook servers but cannot be accessed by anyone else. The Information Commissioner …

Applications 20 Nov 11:01
Public procurement directive strengthens rights of rejected bidders

Ten day 'standstill period' allows challenges

A directive has been passed that aims to encourage more businesses to bid for public contracts anywhere in the EU by giving them stronger rights of challenge where they consider that a public authority has awarded a contract unfairly. The new law was proposed by the European Commission and adopted by the Council of Ministers …

Public Sector 20 Nov 11:10
Warner puts 'Glu-ray' disc on hold - again

Blu-ray/HD DVD combo's time is past

Warner Home Entertainment has once again admitted that its Total HD multi-format next-gen optical disc initiative is "on hold". Actually, the thing's positively moribund, we'd suggest, having been made irrelevant by the unwillingness of the rest of the content business to back it. Warner launched Total HD back in January, …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 11:15
Adam Curtis: The TV elite has lost the plot

Beeb Week The stupidity of crowds

Adam Curtis is one of the jewels in the BBC's crown - as well as one of its fiercest critics. His documentaries are rich, complex histories of ideas that have surprised BBC executives with their popularity amongst younger viewers: his montage technique and visual jokes reward repeated viewings. The Century of the Self told …

Music and Media 20 Nov 11:18
Sony posts PS3 update - two weeks after the last one

Instability issues adjusted

Hardly two weeks have passed since Sony released the PS3’s version 2.0 firmware update. However, the electronics giant has now released version 2.01, focusing this time on fixing instability issues. The update promises to improve stability issues associated with PS3 software, such as crashing or freezing during gameplay. It …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 11:32
Firefox version 3 makes beta

New features for the brave, or foolhardy

Version 3 of Firefox, the alternative web browser of choice, is now available to download for its first beta test. After 27 months of hard work the Gecko 1.9 rendering engine has been integrated, and the development team is feeling ready to share its project with the world. Version 3 has improved security features to combat …

Applications 20 Nov 11:38
Microsoft hires Youngjohns for top sales job

Pre-Christmas knees-up, just don't mention Vista

Microsoft said yesterday that it has hired IBM and Sun veteran Robert Youngjohns to head up its North American sales and marketing unit. British-born Youngjohns, 56, has also been handed the role of corporate vice president of Microsoft and will manage a team of 8,500 sales people, which according to the software behemoth …

Channel Register 20 Nov 11:39
Arnie's back - in videogame format

Hasta la Vista, politics

He said he’d be back, and he meant it. The company that owns the rights to the Terminator franchise has confirmed that a Terminator video game is being developed. A representative from rights owner Halcyon Corporation (which sounds equally like a Skynet rival to us) has been quoted by several online sources as saying that it “ …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 11:47
Hushmail warns users over law enforcement backdoor

Still secure, up to a point

Hushmail has updated its terms of service to clarify that encrypted emails sent through the service can still be turned over to law enforcement officials, providing they obtain a court order in Canada. September court documents (pdf) from a US federal prosecution of alleged steroid dealers reveals that Hush Communications …

Security 20 Nov 12:08
Google 'not interested' in bidding for UK spectrum

Exclusive Just having a chat with Ofcom

The man behind Google's $4.6bn plan to become a national wireless broadband provider in the US has ruled out a similar move in the UK when spectrum is auctioned off over the next two years. Chris Sacca, the search and advertising giant's "head of special intiatives", will meet regulators at Ofcom today to discuss UK spectrum, …

Networks 20 Nov 12:14
Brown pledges to be greener than greens

Saving the planet, one opinion poll at a time

Are we on the brink of a green revolution? One as world changing as the Industrial Revolution, or the invention of the microprocessor? According to Britain's prime minister, Gordon Brown, we had better be. In yesterday's speech about climate change, Brown took on the question of how we should tackle climate change with a …

Environment 20 Nov 12:25
Deutsche Telekom eyeing up EDS

Telco plotting grab at services giant

Deutsche Telekom could make a bid for services giant EDS in a bid to boost its own services business. The two firms have had preliminary talks about a takeover, according to the Financial Times, which cites “people familiar with the situation”. A takeover could see EDS merged into DT’s T-Systems division, with the combined …

Channel Register 20 Nov 12:28
Show your faith in USB Flash drives

We can't see Brando's wooden cross USB Flash drive appealing to death metallers - too acoustic, not electric enough - which leaves Christians as the only cross-wearing community likely to be keen on this simple item. Packs vobiscum It certainly has a certain cardy-wearing, guitar-strumming, Rowan Williams quality - but who …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 12:33
Nintendo takes shine to golden DS Lite

Metallic pink version too

Nintendo has unveiled a pair of DS Lite bundle packs, just in time for the Christmas rush. No doubt Nintendo’s aiming each bundle pack at some specific gamer groups, given the choice of either a golden handheld or a more feminine metallic pink version. The pink one? The gold-coloured console comes with a copy of The Legend …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 12:45
Novell blows kisses to channel

Release the beast

Software provider Novell has kicked off a new partner programme in the hope of pushing up sales and profits at the firm. The shift in gears has been described by Novell as a new "ecosystem" approach to punt hardware, software, and servers to customers through the channel. The global programme, dubbed PartnerNet, will offer a …

Channel Register 20 Nov 12:50
Trojan spreads using PI wiretapping scare

The Simple Art of Malware

Miscreants are trying to convince email users that their telephone conversations are being recorded in a ruse designed to scare prospective marks into buying bogus security software. Emails promoting the campaign are laced with a new Trojan horse malware. The Dorf-AH Trojan horse appears as an attachment in emails claiming …

Anti-Virus 20 Nov 13:05
Beer set to hit four quid a pint

Stuff global warming, this is serious

Booze industry experts have issued a chilling warning that the British pint could hit £4 a pop - a price hike provoked by crap weather which has forced up the price of hops. According to a sobering Guardian report, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) estimates the average jar at £2.50 for lager, and £2.20 for bitter. …

Bootnotes 20 Nov 13:07
Inland Revenue boss quits over 'major ops failure'

Details on up to 15m go missing

Paul Gray, chairman of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, has left his post, apparently taking responsibility for a big data loss by his department. HMRC is refusing to comment ahead of statement in the Commons by Chancellor Alistair Darling at 3.30 this afternoon. The surprise departure is reportedly due to an operational …

Government 20 Nov 13:43
What's Auntie for, exactly?

Beeb Week Impartiality and the BBC

Recently, we discovered that some of the evidence in Al Gore's film about climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, was fictional. But was this the result of a classic exposé from Panorama, or from Newsnight? In fact, the Gore revelations followed from the persistence of a school governor from Devon, who mounted a High Court …

Music and Media 20 Nov 13:53
Sony Ericsson ‘invents’ drag-and-drop for handhelds

'Point and flick' file transfer

Sony Ericsson has applied for a patent that, if granted, would give it ownership of a data-transfer method for portable devices which allows users to send files from one device to another with the flick of a finger. Lisa selects a file on-screen and flicks it to Simon Recently released documents describe how data, such as …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 14:26
Nokia 6110 Navigator GPS phone

Review Gets you from A to B without going via L, O, S or T

Nokia has decided satellite navigation is where it’s at. The Finnish phone giant released its first GPS-enabled mobiles this year, and is promising a whole heap more for 2008. And its multi-billion dollar purchase of map supplier Navteq leaves no doubt how seriously Nokia is taking sat nav. The pertinently-monikered 6110 …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 14:28
Orange and The Cloud hook up for Wi-Fi

10,000 hotspots for Orange customers

Orange has done a deal with hotspot aggregator and operator The Cloud, which will make an extra 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots available to is customers. The deal gives Orange the largest reach of Wi-Fi between the UK mobile phone operators (10,000 hotspots), though the world of Wi-Fi is becoming increasingly complicated as the deals …

Mobile 20 Nov 14:34
Most doctors plan to dodge health database

Fear confidentiality breaches and poor security

The majority of family doctors have said they will shun a government plan to stuff a database full of all our medical records. According to a poll conducted by the Guardian, 59 per cent of GPs said they would not put records on the so-called spine without the consent of a patient, and fully three-quarters say records will be …

Public Sector 20 Nov 14:39
US FCC gets to play with PS3's DualShock 3 controller

Ready to rumble

Sony has received approval from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to release what is almost certainly the updated, rumble-added PS3 controller, the DualShock 3. Sony's DualShock 3 label ...and where it could appear Unfortunately, most of the document’s details are cloaked by a confidentiality clause. However, …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 15:31
Wii-like motion-control games to come to the PS2

Next-gen gamplay, old console

A UK-based video games company is taking advantage of Nintendo’s ongoing Wii shortage, and launching its own range of PS2 motion-controlled video games. RealPlay's swinging golf title Developed by In2Games, the RealPlay range includes several Wii-esque titles, such as pool and golf. Each game copy ships with the required …

Reg Hardware 20 Nov 15:45
Analysts warn of US broadband meltdown

Updated BT watching UK situation closely

Analysts in the US are warning that the country's broadband infrastructure will not be able to keep up with demand, and without massive investment will have reached maximum capacity by 2010. A study from Nemertes Research predicts a massive increase in the amount of traffic that the network has to carry, and a subsequent …

Telecoms 20 Nov 15:46
Darling admits Revenue loss of 25 million personal records

UK Identity Crisis Lost: Two discs, 25 million accounts

Alistair Darling told the House of Commons this afternoon that a police investigation has been launched into how Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has lost child benefit records relating to 25 million people. Records for 25 million people, relating to child benefit payments for 7.25 million families, were sent using the HMRC's …

Government 20 Nov 16:22
Giuliani: Eye-O-Sauron™ border scan-towers are top idea

Tough but virtually tender

Presidential contender Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, has expressed support for a "virtual fence" scheme in which Eye-of-Sauron-style scanner towers would be used to monitor the southern US border. He sees this as a good alternative to controversial plans for a physical fence in the Rio Grande Valley, which covers …

Government 20 Nov 16:24
Brian May appointed university chancellor

An academic kind of magic

Ringlet-topped axe-slinger Brian May (PhD) has been appointed Chancellor of Liverpool's John Moores University, after he was named an honorary fellow of the university last year. Dr. May will take over from Cherie Blair in February next year. Dr. May was awarded his PhD after standing up to the academic scrutiny of a viva at …

Space 20 Nov 16:27
DNS security improves as firms tool up to tackle spam

Configuration errors blot copybook

Domain name servers on the net are still often vulnerable to attacks despite some marked improvements, according to a new survey. Many organisations are making efforts to install the most recent versions of BIND and eliminate Microsoft DNS for external servers. But most still leave their systems open to denial of service and …

Enterprise Security 20 Nov 17:15
How HMRC gave away the UK's national identity

UK Identity Crisis Gov, banks scream 'Don't Panic'

Early last month Her Majesty's Customs and Revenue apologised after a laptop containing data on 400 customers was stolen. At the time the Revenue was praised by the security industry for coming clean and its "refreshing level of ethical responsibility". Earlier this month that it had lost pension records for 15,000 people …

Government 20 Nov 17:42
FSF thickens license soup for SaaS

Tasty

The complicated world of open source licensing has become a bit more complicated, as the Free Software Foundation (FSF) announced details of the final version of its Affero General Public License GPL (AGPL). The so-called Affero clause was originally considered earlier this year for inclusion in the revamped GPL3 license but …

Software 20 Nov 18:42
Symantec: Most data centers are a green tease

It's not nice to fool mother nature

The majority of data center operators say they're concerned about power consumption, but when it comes to actually implementing a plan, they haven't the energy. Symantec's latest pollster thermometer prodded 800 data center professionals in a worldwide survey about energy efficiency woes. The firm says 85 per cent of …

Servers 20 Nov 19:16
Leopard security bug puts Mail users at risk

Nasty vuln, purged from Tiger, seizes new OS

Programmers have reintroduced a yawning security hole in Leopard, the latest version of Apple's highly regarded operating system, after having patched it more than 20 months ago in an earlier version, a researcher has warned. The bug in Apple Mail makes it possible for attackers to run malicious code on a victim's machine by …

Enterprise Security 20 Nov 20:18
Atari may hit reset button again

'Substantial doubt' about ability to remain afloat

Atari is in financial trouble again — or more accurately, the company that spun the Atari brand from the company that bought Atari from the company that merged with the owner of Atari who bought Atari from a split of the original Atari is hurting. Approximately 23 years of steadfast brand necromancy has kept the Atari name …

Hardware 20 Nov 20:28
TJX consumer settlement sale offer draws scorn

Everything must go

Law enforcement officials have poured cold water on plans by TJX to hold a one-day sale for customers as part of a proposed settlement for a consumer class-action case against the security incident-afflicted retailer. TJX faces consumer and bank class action lawsuits over the exposure of an estimated 45.7m customer records as …

Financial News 20 Nov 20:32
Reg readers get physical with virtual machines

Tap your brains

Panic no doubt set in for many of you when all of our Virtualization e-Symposium ads disappeared from the site. You'd grown accustomed to the twinkling plugs for our VMware and Intel sponsored show. Well, everyone can rest easy now that the full e-Symposium has been archived. That's right. Those of you looking to expand your …

Virtualization 20 Nov 20:59
Monster.com attack puts users at risk (again)

Exploited job seekers

Portions of Monster.com went black on Monday after attackers hijacked job listings hosted on the popular employment website and used them to spread malware to visitors, a security researcher said. The outage affected the Monster Company Boulevard, said Exploit Prevention Labs' Roger Thompson, who first noticed the site was …

Crime 20 Nov 21:57
Sun's OpenSolaris gets CIFS-ilis

Breaks out in Windows file-sharing rashes

Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes... The dead rising from the grave. Human sacrifice, CIFS and Solaris living together — mass hysteria. The open-source folks at Sun Microsystems have put the polish on an in-kernel CIFS service, which will allow Microsoft users to store and retrieve files on an OpenSolaris system …

Storage 20 Nov 23:08