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14th February 2008 Archive

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  • Dell in datacenter-servicing three-way

    New program inspects your hardware

    Dell will accept any old reason for jumping onto its data center service wagons and sniffing around your machinery. The company plans to triple its services business within three years. Clearly, that's a large order to fill, so they're rolling out all sorts of service packages. Today, Dell opens shop on new server …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 01:12

  • Sony Ericsson: why we chose Windows

    Mobile World Congress America calling

    Why has Sony Ericsson 'succumbed' to Microsoft? The way the company's CTO Mats Lindoff explained it to us, is that you can't crack the US market without it. He was giving El Reg a glimpse into the future. "We need products in all categories, maybe not in the ultra-low segment, but a broad portfolio. Windows Mobile in the US …

    Mobile 14 Feb 2008, 08:02

  • Internet s&x auction ends in pregnancy, legal feud

    Not the sort of seller feedback you'd expect

    Nobody could have predicted that the plans of a woman in Germany to auction herself online for anonymous sex with six different men could go wrong. Even the noblest of intentions have their ways. After discovering she was pregnant from her amorous senary, the woman successfully sued the web site that hosted the auction to …

    Bootnotes 14 Feb 2008, 08:02

  • EU waves through downloads tax reform (in 2015)

    Take that, Luxembourg!

    The European Commission's reform of VAT on internet-delivered services such as software, ringtones and music has been adopted and will take effect from 2015. Europe's finance ministers yesterday agreed the proposed measures, which means that they become EU legislation, shortly to be published in the Official Journal of the …

    Small Biz 14 Feb 2008, 08:02

  • Dimension Data to fill its H1 boots

    'Favourable' outlook

    Dimension Data has declared it is on course to deliver healthy first half results, despite seeing slightly slower growth than last year. The IT services firm said in an interim management statement (pdf) today that the outlook for the group for the six months ended 31 March remained "favourable". The South Africa- …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 09:52

  • Sony sells 1m PS3s in UK

    But Wii record remains intact

    How many weeks does it take to sell a million PS3s in the UK? According to the latest industry figures, just 46 weeks. UK market watcher Chart Track revealed that by selling 1m PS3s since the console went on sale across the UK, on 23 March 2007, Sony has surpassed its previous personal best: selling 1m PS2s in 50 weeks. Chart …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 10:02

  • Murdoch could save Yahoo! from Microsoft!

    !!!!! You ain't digging into my space, Monkeyboy

    Rupert Murdoch is in talks with Yahoo! aimed at fending off the hostile takeover by Microsoft. Despite repeated denials from News Corp in recent weeks, the two firms are reportedly talking about an alliance based on Murdoch's MySpace. Yahoo! this week officially rejected Microsoft's $44.6bn takeover offer. The deal would see …

    Financial News 14 Feb 2008, 10:04

  • Mozilla 2 promises big change

    Behind Firefox

    The beta 3 version of Firefox 3, released this week, will probably be the last version of the browser based on the original Mozilla platform, celebrating its tenth anniversary next week. Work is already underway on a revamp of Firefox's underlying platform - Mozilla. It was on February 23, 1998, that Netscape announced the …

    Applications 14 Feb 2008, 10:05

  • Space-bubble Bigelow looking to buy fifty Atlas Vs

    Procurement for a pressurised-property portfolio

    The main questions people ask about Vegas property billionaire Robert Bigelow and his huge-inflatable-satellite-habitat plans are: can the man really be serious? Sure, fire a couple of test space-balloons into orbit on (relatively) cheap Russian rockets, he's done that. But will he really put up full-size inhabitable models? And …

    Space 14 Feb 2008, 10:09

  • Rendition lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary tossed

    Loyal Bushies rejoice

    The American judicial system handed another victory to executive power today, as a federal court judge in San Jose threw out a lawsuit filed against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen for its involvement in the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. The lawsuit concerned five individuals who claimed to have been kidnapped by the CIA and …

    Law 14 Feb 2008, 10:14

  • HMRC gets Airwave comms network

    He's just getting off the carousel, over

    HM Revenue and Customs has signed up to use the emergency services' digital communications network. It has announced a £60m, 15 year contract that will provide its Criminal Investigation and Detection teams with access to the digital radio and data network. This will include the roll out of 4,000 connections and the …

    Public Sector 14 Feb 2008, 10:17

  • Suicidal moose descends on Alaska

    'Moose can fly. Just not very well'

    You might say it was raining cats and moose. Minus the cats. On February 2, as reported by Anchorage Daily News, a swing-shift state trooper named Howard Peterson was motoring down the Seward Highway when he was nearly killed by a falling moose. At first, he thought the moose was a rock that looked like a moose. But the moose …

    Bootnotes 14 Feb 2008, 11:02

  • The future of the SIM hangs by a single wire

    Mobile World Congress 20 years young and past its prime?

    SIM manufacturers still have some of the largest stands here at Mobile World Congress, but not as big as last year and with a lot less to show on them. Now the industry is betting that proximity payments will be their future, and if they're wrong there'll be a lot of empty space here in Barcelona come 2009. The GSM SIM chip …

    Mobile 14 Feb 2008, 11:10

  • Lenovo ThinkPad T61

    Review Still a brand to be reckoned with

    When the world ends in a nuclear glow or a flood of melted icecaps, the final remaining life will be bacteria in the vents of undersea volcanoes and the last piece of technology to give up the ghost will surely be a ThinkPad. When Lenovo took over IBM’s PC and laptop division it raised a question about the future of the …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 11:18

  • HDMI add-on adds HDMI to HDMI-less Xbox 360s

    Unless your Xbox 360 is an Elite model, then your console won't have an HDMI point for a direct digital connection to an HD TV. However, now you can odd one yourself. Manufacturer MadCatz has launched an HDMI conversion kit for the console. MadCatz's Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit The dongle connects into the console’s AV …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 11:28

  • HP pays off reporters it spied on

    Lawsuits still pending

    HP has paid off some of the journalists it was accused of spying on in 2006. One reporter from the New York Times and three from BusinessWeek have accepted an undisclosed payment some of which will go to charity. HP engaged private investigators who used various methods to get hold of telephone call records as part of an …

    Law 14 Feb 2008, 11:29

  • Oz teen elephant pregnancy sparks protests

    Pachyderm underage rumpy-pumpy outrage

    Animals rights groups are none too pleased that Sydney's Taronga zoo has allowed a nine-year-old Asian elephant to get up the duff a full two years before what they consider is the captive pachyderm age of consent. Elephant Thong Dee is is apparently five months into her 22-month pregnancy, something which has delighted the …

    Biology 14 Feb 2008, 11:30

  • Star Trek XI release knocked back to 2009

    No Xmas joy for expectant Trekkies

    Paramount Pictures has announced it has knocked back the release of Star Trek XI from 25 December this year to 8 May 2009, on the grounds that "the pic's gross potential is greater as a summer tentpole", as Variety puts it. The only box office competition the JJ Abrams-helmed movie will face on the new date is from 20th …

    Entertainment 14 Feb 2008, 11:48

  • John Clare surprised at DSG raids

    Shocked, horrified...

    The former boss of Dixons Store Group International (DSGI) says he was surprised at the European Commission raids on retailers earlier this week. The EC raided a DSGI call centre in Hemel Hempstead, as well as the offices of German and French retailers on Monday as part of an investigation into alleged anti-competitive …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 11:54

  • Big Climate's strange 'science'

    Comment Would you trust a software engineer to build a bridge?

    I had to chuckle to myself reading a letter here at The Register, recently. "David Whitehouse - although a respected scientist - is still only one voice and his speciality is astrophysics not climate," wrote a reader. This is one of my greatest concerns about so called climate science. Climate science is a very, very new field …

    Science 14 Feb 2008, 11:55

  • Blighty might have astronauts in future, says UK gov

    They will ride into space astride flying pigs

    The UK government is to reconsider the idea of British astronauts, after deciding 22 years ago that there would be none. The BBC reports today that a new review of manned spaceflight will be carried out by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) - a government body - as part of the new space strategy. The BNSC will report on …

    Space 14 Feb 2008, 12:18

  • Microsoft swoops into schools to teach P2P morality

    Down with the kids

    Teenage intellectual property (IP) law swotters are less likely to illegally download music and film files from the internet than their clueless counterparts, Microsoft claimed yesterday. Redmond is now looking to bring the rest of the kids up to speed by pushing its own IP curriculum in schools. The software giant reckoned …

    Law 14 Feb 2008, 12:42

  • Price, not format war fears, holds back Blu-ray, says survey

    Toshiba more in tune with punters' plans than Sony?

    Toshiba has judged its HD DVD strategy correctly, according to consumer research from price comparison service Pricegrabber. What's stopping punters picking Blu-ray Disc is not the risk of backing the loser in the format war as the high price of players. During January, Pricegrabber listed HD DVD players priced between $144 …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 12:47

  • Red Hat talks up JBoss middleware for enterprise

    Paid beats free

    Tough talking is a way of life in the airline business, a sector over-stuffed with suppliers teetering on the brink of extinction, and with a reputation for costly and poor service. Two months after plucking new chief executive James Whitehurst - a man with a self-confessed lack of direct involvement in open source software …

    Software 14 Feb 2008, 13:05

  • Microhoo! or YahSoft!? The! people! must! decide!

    Reader poll Just put your exclamation mark in the box

    The "will they, won't they?" Microsoft-Yahoo! cliffhanger has had the IT world on tenterhooks for a couple of weeks now, and planet Earth has temporarily stopped spinning on its axis in anticipation of the outcome of the marriage proposal from Redmond to the company! which! saved! the! exclamation! mark! from! extinction! Of …

    Bootnotes 14 Feb 2008, 13:08

  • Five set to resurrect Minder

    I could be so good for yooo-ooo...

    TV channel Five is planning to resurrrect Arthur Daley for a small-screen return of classic series Minder, the BBC reports. Eastenders geezer Shane Richie is apparently "tipped" to star in the new outing, although his agent Phil Dale said: "I am currently in negotiations and unable to discuss this further." Minder ran from …

    Entertainment 14 Feb 2008, 13:14

  • Major Linux security glitch lets hackers in at Claranet

    10-minute swoop to close new hole

    A major security vulnerability in the Linux kernel, which was revealed on Sunday, has claimed its first confirmed UK victim in business ISP Claranet. Hackers used a bug in the sys_vmsplice kernel call, which handles virtual memory management, to gain root privileges and replace Claranet customers' index.html files with the …

    Applications 14 Feb 2008, 13:37

  • Back to basics for SQL Server 2008

    Project Watch: Microsoft 2008 Hand feeding

    When I asked: "How do we convert more than 12,000 location items - by hand?" we had almost completed the process as part of our move to Microsoft's up-coming SQL Server 2008. The question was, in fact, rhetorical. Nevertheless, we received a lot of advice and suggestions from Reg Dev readers. This, for example, from …

    Software 14 Feb 2008, 14:26

  • Xbox 360 console failure rate forecast at 16.4%

    Overheating to blame?

    Your Xbox 360 has a 16.4 per cent chance of breaking down, according to an analysis of the Microsoft console’s failure rates by an electronics warranty trading firm. SquareTrade amassed a sample of 1000 warranty claims that have already been submitted for the Xbox 360 and found that 60 per cent of the failures were due to the …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 14:27

  • Halo Master Chief armour offered on eBay

    Kick butt at fancy dress parties

    Imagine how impressed your friends would be when you rock up to a fancy dress party dressed just like Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, in a Spartan combat suit. Oh yes. This dream can become a reality if you can afford to part with at least 850 of your hard-earned - plus £50 for postage within the UK. Check out this …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 14:33

  • 3Com deal back on track after Bain agrees concessions

    Reaching the TippingPoint

    3Com stock rose on Wednesday after private equity firm Bain Capital said it was prepared to make concessions to US legislators over its proposed buyout of the networking equipment firm. Bain, alongside minority partner Huawei Technologies, the Chinese networking equipment manufacturer, offered to buy 3Com for $2.2bn in cash in …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 14:53

  • Google beats bugs from Android

    Wot Apple, no SDK?

    Building on the momentum of the first demos of prototype Android handsets at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the internet's favorite search engine has released a new version of the Android software development kit (SDK). The upgrade - which includes an improved user interface and extended media support - had been widely …

    Mobile 14 Feb 2008, 15:00

  • LG says laptop batteries safe despite 'billion to one' blast

    Unusual circumstances, not battery, to blame

    LG Electronics will not recall a laptop battery of the model involved in the incineration of one of its notebooks last month. It said that independent testing laid the blame for the blaze elsewhere. On 9 January, a Korean journalist’s LG laptop burst into flames at the Bestian Medical Center in southern Seoul. The owner …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 15:10

  • Inventor promises bottle-o-wind car in a year. Again

    French hot-air jalopy gets Indian backing

    French inventor Guy Negre, who has promoted his plan for air-powered cars for decades without significant success, says he has finally secured backing from a major motor manufacturer. Negre's small family design firm MDI has announced a partnership agreement with Indian car giant Tata, and excited reports have it that air-driven …

    Science 14 Feb 2008, 15:44

  • Human rights group pleads for condemned Saudi 'witch'

    'Beaten, denied a fair trial, sentenced to death'

    Campaigning group Human Rights Watch has petitioned King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to halt the execution by beheading of a "witch" who in 2006 was convicted of "witchcraft, recourse to jinn [supernatural beings], and slaughter of animals". Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali is currently languishing in Quraiyat Prison having "exhausted …

    Music and Media 14 Feb 2008, 17:11

  • Guinness launches videogame record book

    Not a lot of people know that...

    If you think eight hours a day sat in front of a computer screen is tough, try staring at a game of Space Invaders for over 38 hours. That’s just one of the historical gaming nuggets revealed in an edition of the Guinness World Records that’s devoted entirely to videogames. Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition dedicates two …

    Reg Hardware 14 Feb 2008, 17:23

  • Google cheers anti-Comcast legislation

    'Power to the people. And us.'

    Just after Comcast copped to throttling P2P traffic, a new net neutrality bill appeared on Capitol Hill. Yesterday, US congressman Edward J. Markey, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunication and the Internet, introduced something called "the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008". "[This bill] is …

    Telecoms 14 Feb 2008, 20:29

  • Legal attack dogs chase software pirates from eBay

    Bounty program paying off

    Adobe and Symantec have unleashed legal attack dogs on nine individuals accused of selling pirated software on eBay. The lawsuits, filed in US District Court in the Northern District of California, are the biggest round filed to date by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). They're part of the SIIA's Auction …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 21:38

  • NetApp blames tightwad bankers for lower forecast

    Choppy waters ahead in Q4

    Network Appliance had a strong fiscal third quarter, but warns that current quarter revenue could suffer because banks are cutting orders. CEO Dan Warmenhoven told analysts in a conference call yesterday that spending from financial institutions — some of NetApp's largest customers — have dropped due to a shaky economic …

    Storage 14 Feb 2008, 21:45

  • On the open source implications of Dell's rodent abuse

    Radio Reg Hamster meet penguin

    Does Dell making hamsters cry have anything at all to do with open source software? Not really. Still, the Open Season crew gathered for Episode 11 to draw any connection between Dell, rodent torture and open source code that we could. Matt Asay, Dave Rosenberg and yours truly hit on those hamsters, Sun's purchase of innotek, …

    Open Season 14 Feb 2008, 22:40

  • Lite-On factory fire threatens PC monitor biz

    Dell, HP and Lenovo may get burned

    A fire at Lite-On's main flat-panel monitor factory in China could disrupt LCD display supplies across the PC industry. Lite-On said a fire on February 3 at its plant in Dongguan caused estimated $71.2m in damages. In total, 14 of their 20 monitor production lines were affected by the blaze. No injuries were reported. Lite-On …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 22:53

  • Microsoft immune system rejects execs

    Yahoo! next?

    It looks like Steve Ballmer is doing a little pre-spring cleaning. Today, mega mobile network operator Vodafone announced the hiring of Pieter Knook, who spent the last five years running Microsoft's mobile business, and a handful of news organizations are reporting that at least two other top Redmond execs are on their way …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 22:59

  • SCO bags $100m to fight another day

    The company that refused to die

    It's Alive! SCO is bouncing back from Chapter 11 and taking itself private, thanks to the munificence of a private equity firm. The company that thinks it owns some lines of code in Linux - and that anyone who uses Linux owes it a living - fled to Chapter 11 last September, after fighting legal battles against world+dog - to …

    Channel Register 14 Feb 2008, 23:00