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27th November 2007 Archive

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  • Second ex-Brocade exec goes on trial over options accounting

    Backdating 2: Electric Boogaloo

    The trial of the second former Brocade executive charged with stock option backdating opened today in San Francisco with prosecutors painting Stephanie Jensen as a key enforcer of the data storage equipment maker's accounting irregularities. Jensen, Brocade's former vice president of human resources, faces up to 20 years in …

    The Channel 27 Nov 2007, 01:20

  • HP wallops server rivals in Q3

    Mark of Pain

    HP tore through both the low- and high-ends of the server market during the third quarter, according to the latest figures from research house Gartner. Gartner had the worldwide server market growing by 8.7 per cent in terms of shipments to 2.2m units and increasing revenue 2.6 per cent to $13.4bn. The analyst house attributed …

    Servers 27 Nov 2007, 02:08

  • Facebook and ABC News get political

    Barack Obama for the Stephen Colbert crowd

    Facebook and ABC News are to offer a new online destination for election-obsessed social networkers. Today, as reported by The New York Times, the two outfits launched a brand new Facebook application called "US Politics". Integrating with your on-site Facebook profile, this free tool gives you quick access to political …

    Government 27 Nov 2007, 03:08

  • Reiser's ex-wife portrayed as sadomasochist

    Sought 'male companionship' on Craigslist

    A lawyer defending the Linux developer Hans Reiser against charges he murdered his wife tried to debunk claims that she was a devoted mother. In court today, he asked questions about personal ads she placed on Craigslist and a sadomasochistic relationship she allegedly had with Reiser's former best friend. "Did you ever …

    Law 27 Nov 2007, 03:19

  • MoD budget train crash behind Brown v forces rumpus

    Comment PM's choice: Outsource arms makers or squaddies

    A complicated battle is going on behind closed doors in Whitehall at the moment regarding the British armed forces' budget. Some of those involved are making public statements; others are briefing the media off the record; others still are saying nothing at all. The players include the upper echelons of the Ministry of Defence …

    Government 27 Nov 2007, 07:02

  • European online gambling party continues push eastward

    Bulgaria: not just for airbags anymore

    Not to be left out of a potentially lucrative source of tax revenue, the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance last week submitted proposals to regulate and tax online betting, iGamingBusiness reports. Tired of watching potential tax dollars drain out of the national coffers, the former communist stalwart has decided to throw in the …

    Law 27 Nov 2007, 10:06

  • Apple 'looking into' duff Chinese hard drive claims

    Responds to above-average drive failure rates

    Apple has admitted it is examining claims that a number of its MacBook laptops include poorly manufactured hard drives that expose users to data loss. “We've received a few reports that some MacBook consumer notebooks may have hard drive issues,” a company spokesman told Information Week, “and we're looking into it.” The …

    Hardware 27 Nov 2007, 10:11

  • US woman fingered for Porky Pig drugs outrage

    Background check shocker

    They say your past always catches up with you in the end - something one Sue Jones of Grand Junction, Colorado, can certainly attest. Jones got a job with grocery store chain City Market, but a background check quickly came back with a "do not hire" flag, as Colorado's 11 News explains. The reason? Multiple charges "including …

    Bootnotes 27 Nov 2007, 10:17

  • Cartels to face private lawsuits under OFT plans

    Extending the right to sue

    Companies that break competition law could face lawsuits from trade and consumer bodies if the UK Government adopts new proposals published by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today. The right to sue will no longer depend on action by a competition authority. The OFT also wants to change UK laws and procedures which limit the …

    Law 27 Nov 2007, 10:26

  • OFT goes Christmas shopping to test website compliance

    Top 600 retail sites get festive health check

    The UK's top 600 retail websites will be checked by the Trading Standards officers in about 100 local authorities during December to ensure they comply with key requirements of online shopping laws, the Office of Fair Trading has said. The exercise will check whether sites provide shoppers with the contact details required by …

    The Channel 27 Nov 2007, 10:33

  • Firms fear disgruntled staff: report

    Employees the biggest threat to security and finance

    Who do Irish organisations consider the biggest threat to their finances? Possibly you, according to a new survey from Citrix. The study from the software giant found that 49 per cent of IT specialists said people, or more precisely disgruntled staff, are a major financial threat to Irish businesses. The survey found that …

    Business 27 Nov 2007, 10:40

  • Biometrics won't fix data loss problems

    Academics attack government untruths on ID

    Six leading academics have written to a Parliamentary committee to express their dismay at the way biometrics has been used as a magic wand which would have supposedly stopped Darling's great data giveaway. The six said of claims by the Prime Minister and his Chancellor: "These assertions are based on a fairy-tale view of the …

    Government 27 Nov 2007, 10:43

  • Intralot to offer Aussie punters lottery by cellphone

    Save the children, opponents cry

    Greek gaming powerhouse Intralot has raised eyebrows in Australia with plans to allow Aussies in Victoria to purchase lottery tickets over their mobile phones. Quite the slippery slope, it seems. John Katakis, the head honcho at Intralot, yesterday confirmed plans to sell tickets in lotteries via SMS, The Australian has …

    Mobile 27 Nov 2007, 10:53

  • Child protection site to show Scottish sex offenders

    'Most wanted' to be pictured online

    Scotland's police forces are preparing to use the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre's (CEOP) "Most Wanted" website. The Scottish Executive has announced a formal contract to use the service between the Crown Office, Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland, CEOP Centre, and Crimestoppers, the charity that …

    Policy 27 Nov 2007, 11:03

  • Gov advisers pick six crucial techs for UK

    If you're not on the list, you're not coming...

    The Council for Science and Technology, which advises the Prime Minister and First Ministers on medium to long-term science strategy, has chosen six technologies it reckons are crucial for the UK. The Council looked for technologies that would reap a commercial or social reward in about five years' time. The report picks six …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 11:13

  • Alba readying cut-price Blu-ray Disc player for Europe?

    Chinese maker claims order taken

    Are low-cost Blu-ray Disc players coming to Europe in the near future? They are if claims that local consumer electronics company Alba has ordered 4000 players a month from January are to be believed. Chinese-language newspapers Commercial Times and Economic Daily News today quote the head of Chinese manufacturer Forworld …

    Hardware 27 Nov 2007, 11:14

  • FCC reveals Motorola Z6c handset

    Testing's complete

    The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) website has come up trumps once again. It’s revealed some definitive specifications of Motorola’s latest handset, the Rizr Z6c. Motorola's Rizr Z6c Motorola’s handset, which appears to have successfully passed the FCCs various communications tests, runs on CDMA, and 900MHz and …

    Phones 27 Nov 2007, 11:20

  • Britain's home front must go green, study

    Living the green dream is 'crucial'

    The UK's domestic carbon footprint could be reduced by 80 per cent by 2050, and a good start can be made using existing technologies, according to a report from an Oxford University academic. Brenda Boardman, a senior research fellow at Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute, said that reducing emissions from …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 11:22

  • Firefox update puts lid on Jar bug

    Safe to surf

    Mozilla released an update to its Firefox browser on Monday designed to address a trio of vulnerabilities. Firefox 2.0.0.10 addresses a bug in the open source browser's "jar:" protocol handle, a memory corruption vulnerability, and a potential cross-site scripting hazard. The jar: protocol handle bug was first identified in …

    Security 27 Nov 2007, 11:24

  • TV heavyweights build on-demand supersite

    BBC, ITV, and C4 ride Kangaroo

    The UK's top broadcasters have 'fessed up to working together on a single system for distributing TV online. ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC's commercial tentacle said today that they aim to launch the joint service on an unspecified date next year. Details are scarce in today's announcement, but we're promised "an exciting …

    Media 27 Nov 2007, 11:39

  • Sony pops cap on lippy-like music stick

    But 'drip-proof response' feature absent, alas...

    Someone at Sony - a man, probably - said the new Walkman NW-E013 looked like a lipstick dispenser, so now the compact MP3 player is being dispensed to women. It's other femme-friendly characteristics: a bright, glossy casing coming in an array of charming colours. Sony's Walkman NW-E013: lipstick like Actually, the NW-E013, …

    Hardware 27 Nov 2007, 11:58

  • New BAE destroyer launches today on the Clyde

    Comment Another eyewatering day for UK taxpayers

    HMS Diamond launches today at the BAE Systems Govan shipyard, third of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyers. There will be rejoicing up and down the Clyde and quieter satisfaction in many parts of the Navy. Meanwhile in the warzones of Southwest Asia, British soldiers and marines are fighting and sometimes dying, hamstrung by …

    Government 27 Nov 2007, 12:07

  • Dell puckers up to Carrefour

    Retailer to sell PCs in Spain, Belgium, and France

    Computer giant Dell said today that it has given Carrefour the go-ahead to punt its notebooks and desktop PCs to three locations in the European market. Dell, which for many years shunned the channel in favour of spouting its direct sales-only biz mantra, abandoned its so-called "religion" in May this year in the hope of …

    The Channel 27 Nov 2007, 12:09

  • Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200 compact camera

    Review Sounds like a camera the Terminator would use

    The first thing you see when you pull the T200 out of the box is a great big sticker proclaiming the camera delivers “Full HD 1080” still images. So you would've thought that Sony would make it easy to enjoy this feature. But no - it’s only when you read the instruction book that you discover that the HD connecting cable is an …

    Hardware 27 Nov 2007, 12:17

  • Webroot taps UK-based email filtering firm

    Anti-spyware firm moves into security services

    Anti-spyware firm Webroot has announced a deal to merge with UK-based security as a service firm Email Systems. Terms of the deal, announced Tuesday, were not publically disclosed. The merged firm will be called Webroot. Webroot (the much larger firm and obvious lead partner in the deal) said the merger agreement would allow …

    The Channel 27 Nov 2007, 12:18

  • Microsoft signs MOU with Siberia

    Training co-operation

    Microsoft said yesterday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Siberian government which could see the software giant park its latest data centre on a remote, sub-arctic part of Russia*(see Reader Comment below). The city of Irkutsk has been pinpointed as a possible location for Microsoft's latest data- …

    Servers 27 Nov 2007, 13:33

  • Blu-ray discs outsell HD DVDs almost 3:1 in Europe

    17 BD playback boxes bought for every one HD DVD unit

    European consumers have bought more than 1m pre-recorded movie Blu-ray Discs, the next-gen optical disc format's backers said today. That's roughly 73 per cent of all HD discs sold in Europe in the past 12 months, they claimed. The figures were published by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) but produced by independent market …

    Hardware 27 Nov 2007, 13:57

  • Mio re-routes its sat nav range

    Pre-Christmas update

    You can tell it’s nearly Christmas when a company that’s been relatively quiet since the summer suddenly launches a wave of products in one go. Unfortunately, Mio’s only updating and, in one case, downgrading the features of existing models. Mio's C520t The C520b and C520tb both incorporate SiRF's SiRFStar III GPS chipset, …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 14:02

  • Top government boffin urges rethink on GM crop ban

    And nuclear power

    Dr David King will press the government to reopen the debate on genetically modified crops as his parting shot as the UK's chief scientist. He will make the call this evening in front of an audience of fellow top boffins at the Foundation for Science and Technology in London. In a wide-ranging farewell address, King will say …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 14:03

  • Xbox 360 gets friendly

    Make friends through gaming

    Microsoft looks poised to add a Facebook/Friends Reunited social networking facility to the Xbox 360, when it updates the console’s dashboard later this year. Dubbed Friends of Friends (FoF), the service will allow gamers to find old chums or connect with new ones over Xbox Live!, Microsoft said. It will also allow users to …

    Games 27 Nov 2007, 14:13

  • Rose Tyler beams back into Doctor Who

    Billie confirmed for three episodes of series four

    Billie Piper will appear in three episodes of next year's series four of cult sci-fi series Doctor Who, reprising the role of Rose Tyler, the BBC has confirmed. The surprise announcement means the good Doctor will have no fewer than three companions in 2008 - Tyler, Martha (Freema Agyeman, for the second half of the series) …

    Bootnotes 27 Nov 2007, 14:17

  • Is that a watch in your pocket?

    TAG Heuer joins rush to brand phone handsets

    TAG Heuer, Swiss maker of fashion watches, has signed an agreement with French design house Modelabs to create TAG phones for those who need a logo to talk to. As the feature-set of the modern mobile handset becomes increasingly commoditised it's natural for brand endorsement to follow: manufacturers not competing on features …

    Mobile 27 Nov 2007, 14:28

  • Boffins ponder Galileo signals as ocean monitors

    It will be useful

    Private enterprise might not know how to make any money from it, but academics are already thinking of uses for it. Yes, it is the Galileo system, Europe's answer to GPS. Scientists at the University of Surrey, along with spin-out firm SSTL, have managed to detect the reflection of signals sent down from an orbiting prototype …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 14:32

  • US navy's robot carrier plane building fast

    Droid Top Gun to make deck landings in 2011

    The US Navy's new stealth robot carrier plane is now "structurally complete", according to its maker, and is now being fitted out with subsystems while software tests begin. The Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) is expected to make its first flight the year after next, and its first carrier deck landing in 2011 …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 14:38

  • UK firm 'recalls' 575 knee implants

    Excess of iron provokes durability concerns

    UK "advanced medical devices" firm Smith & Nephew has recalled about 575 knee implants because they contain "too much iron", the BBC reports. About 275 patients are already sporting the metal-heavy implants from the TC-PLUS, VKS and RT-PLUS ranges, and the company is trying to track down another 300 which have been "supplied …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 14:41

  • Tag Heuer clocks onto mobile phone branding

    Watch out for this one... ahem

    These days a clothing label isn’t fashionable unless it’s got a mobile phone to its name. But now Swiss watch-maker Tag Heuer has clocked onto the idea and has announced plans to launch a range of luxury handsets. The Prada phone The company's spokesman said it has licensed the Tag Heuer name to French phone maker Modelabs, …

    Phones 27 Nov 2007, 14:45

  • Daft users and insecure web apps dominate threat index

    Software vulns are so last year

    Cyber criminals and spies have shifted their focus of attack in response to improved security defences. Facing improvements in system and network security, crackers have two new prime targets that allow them to evade firewalls, anti-virus, and even intrusion prevention tools: users who are easily misled and custom-built …

    Security 27 Nov 2007, 15:02

  • Nokia and O2 get on the tube

    Wireless payments come to London's tube

    O2, Nokia and Transport for London are to trial Near Field Communications (NFC) handsets to host Oyster cards - so you'll be able pay for your tube journey using your mobile. The trial will be announced tomorrow morning but will likely centre around the Nokia 6131-NFC handset, as that's the only model with the technology …

    Mobile 27 Nov 2007, 15:18

  • Al Gore climate change site hacked

    Penis pill outrage

    A blog on a site promoting Al Gore's climate change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has been hacked by penis pill-promoting spammers. Links on the blog portion of the climatecrisis.net site point to websites hawking online pharmaceuticals in an apparent bid by miscreants to promote their search engine rankings. The links, …

    Security 27 Nov 2007, 15:20

  • UK gov superfast broadband summit decides... erm... nothing

    Don't hold your breath

    The Whitehall summit on next generation broadband on Monday concluded with government, regulators and industry firmly agreeing that they definitely need to start thinking around what to do about the UK's creaking internet infrastructure at some unspecified point in the future (perhaps). The Department for Business, Enterprise …

    Government 27 Nov 2007, 15:39

  • Dinosaurs derail desalination drive Down under

    An inconvenient fossil find

    A fossilised spanner has been thrown into the works of plans for Australia's largest desalination plant, as a hoard of dino-remains has been uncovered on the beach near the proposed site. The plant, intended to protect Melbourne from drought, was being built at a cost of A$3bn, but the dinosaur discovery has put its future in …

    Law 27 Nov 2007, 16:00

  • 'Use me as a mouthpiece' - Guardian hack pleads

    How science journalism really works

    Ben Goldacre, The Guardian's Mr "Bad Science" writes witheringly about sloppy science journalists. Many of them are simply "juggling words about on a page, without having the first clue what they mean, pretending they've got a proper job, their pens all lined up neatly on the desk," he writes. They trade on scare stories, and …

    Media 27 Nov 2007, 16:05

  • Darling could backtrack on capital gains

    Tells CBI, UK.gov is 'open to suggestions'

    Chancellor Alistair Darling today defended the government's "controversial" plans to bring a single rate of capital gains tax into play, but also hinted at a possible U-turn. Speaking at the annual Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference this lunchtime, Darling said he was "open to suggestions" from business …

    The Channel 27 Nov 2007, 16:10

  • Only bicarbonate of soda can save mankind!

    A new take on carbon sequestering

    A US firm has come up with a plan to turn the carbon dioxide emitted by coal-burning power plants into bicarbonate of soda. Joe David Jones, founder of Skyonic, says he can capture 90 per cent of the carbon coming out of a smokestack and turn it into a harmless baking ingredient thanks to his Skymine process. The "baking soda …

    Science 27 Nov 2007, 16:46

  • Choice breeds complexity for Linux desktop

    New tricks for old dog

    The success of the Everex gPC this month raises once again the possibility that Linux can make inroads into the desktop market. In stock at Walmart, initial sales of the gPC caused panic on a scale comparable to the recent stock market panic. Not only has the gPC sold well - it has also proved popular. It helps that gPC ticks …

    Software 27 Nov 2007, 19:03

  • Universal chief rues Apple's 'golden handcuffs'

    We'd love to leave, but the money's too good

    Universal Music Group boss Doug Morris, profiled in the current issue of WiReD, isn't the first person to regret a business arrangement with Steve Jobs. As the head of the world's biggest record label, Morris' blessing was instrumental to the success of iTunes Music Store. But his reasoning in 2007 sounds very strange. …

    Media 27 Nov 2007, 20:28

  • Hacker defaces temples to OS X

    Apple fanboys crawling with maggots

    A self-described Apple user, presumably fed up with the smug superiority of "Mac," the hipster mascot featured in the ubiquitous "Get a Mac" commercials, is targeting OS X enthusiast sites with defacements that accuse them of excessive fanboyism. Problem is, the stunts appear as forced and manufactured as the Apple campaign …

    Security 27 Nov 2007, 21:47

  • Verizon agrees to personality transplant

    Sweet talks non-Verizon phones

    Just two months after it launched a legal attack against the Federal Communications Commission for embracing open access to the US wireless spectrum, Verizon has embraced open access to the US wireless spectrum. Today, the mega telco announced that it will soon give its wireless customers the option of using devices, software …

    Mobile 27 Nov 2007, 22:20

  • Toshiba and NEC reaffirm 32nm chip marriage

    Fujitsu gets wandering eyes

    Toshiba and NEC are forging ahead with plans to jointly develop manufacturing technology for 32 nanometer chips to better compete with rivals. The two giants plan to embark on their joint efforts as early as the start of 2008, with mass production beginning in 2010. In July, rumors circulated of a pact between the Japanese …

    Hardware 27 Nov 2007, 22:58